Blogs Go Mainstream

Did you know America Online just decided to purchase Weblogs for $25 million?

It's the latest example of the if-you-can't-beat-em-join-em attitude that traditional media has started to swallow.

It's obvious that the newfound interest in blogs is fueled by the strong online ad market, which has given companies an incentive to keep users on their sites for as long as possible, even if that means making deals with lots of small niche sites.

But, this trend makes me wonder about the delicate balance between mainstream media and user-generated content. Will blogs and other consumer-generated sites still retain their character when they're no longer independent, but instead part of the media machine they once spurned?