Note: This is the first in what I hope will be a series of posts contributed live from the New Communications Forum in Palo Alto, California.

Along with nearly 200 others, I’m listening to Rebecca Blood deliver the opening keynote at the New Communications Forum. She’s addressing the notion of “distributed” or “open source” journalism via blogs, which promote incrementalism: As authors and commenters add to a story, the value of the story increases. Following are notes on her talk.

When creating a podcast is as easy as sending an email, Blood says, there will be 28 million podcasts (equal to the number of blogs Technorati is tracking).

We are hard-wired for blogging (and, presumably, podcasting, assuming it becomes easy enough), Blood suggests—we survive by sharing information. Everybody is passionate about something—family, job, the latest episode of “Survivor;” blogs provide an outlet for sharing that knowledge/information.

Referencing Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point,” Blood argues that bloggers are mavens who, when they get online, become connecters due to the networked and discoverable nature of the blogosphere.

There’s nothing new about open-source in the world of science. The Audobon Society and Cornell University use volunteers to record bird sightings, allowing them to make authoritative statements about bird populations. The democratization of science that has been happening (for the Audobon Society) for 100 years has a parallel to the blogosphere. Wikipedia works the same way, based on their ability to leverage the enthusiasm and passion of volunteers who are willing to share their knowledge—they have created the ability for mavens to partner with them.

Advanced technology and a critical mass of people with access are necessary for a cultural shift driven by open source or distributed knowledge. The more affordable technology becomes, the more the audience becomes producers of content. We are leaving the industrial age and entering the age of collaborative culture. This shift is transforming everything from mass media to music to culture.

To call what’s happening “the information age” is like calling the industrial revolution “the tool age.” Entire industries transformed in response to new demands. She’s been calling it “participatory culture.” She’s also heard “mass amateurization” and “proam.”

For individuals, social media is a means of expression. For organizations, it’s a tool. You need to ask what you’re trying to accomplish and what tools will help achieve it. Your CEO may need a blog. Organizationally, it’s important to think beyond blogs to forums, podcasts, wikis, mailing lists—follow your customers wherever they congregate on the web and engage them there.

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