We all know a plane ditched in the Hudson yesterday. Kudos to the pilot and all those involved in rescuing the passengers.

But old media…you people will never learn. As reported NUMEROUS times, the first reports and pictures from the incident came out via Twitter and TwitPic. Old media classified these are media outlets. THEY ARE NOT MEDIA OUTLETS. They are communication mediums, people.

Real people with real accounts reported this. They used a medium (Twitter and TwitPic) and, from their media outlet (their own accounts) told the world what was happening.

Why is this distinction important? Well, it’s simple, really. Old media thinks they are competing against Facebook, Twitter and social media others as a group. They are wrong. They have many, many more competitors. Every single user is now a media outlet of their own. They have access to thousands of people with the push of a button and yes, they all know how to use it.

Old media, the game has changed. If you want to survive, it’s time you figure out who your competition is. It’s all of us.

Props to @chadarizona for helping me clarify this.

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