Clash of the Titans

Having studied journalism in-depth throughout college, I've practically grown up reading articles from both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and both publications have become news media icons.

But for the last few months, the long-standing rivalry between these journalistic giants has really been heating up. And while some think that both newspapers should stop bickering and focus on surviving in an increasingly-paperless world, I believe this feud could actually help both sides stay afloat.

Back in late 2009, when the feud was simply a war of words, all newspapers (WSJ and NYT included) were sweating the massive industry-wide losses and questions about the future of newspapers as a viable business option.

This led to the WSJ and NYT to escalating their efforts to beat the other into submission, and the latest moves to expand social media integration could prove extremely valuable to both papers.

Both papers have taken big steps to one-up each other with their social media use, with competing Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. But the NYT upped the ante in February, when they partnered with Foursquare during the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

And over the weekend, the WSJ retaliated with a Foursquare partnership of their own, allowing users to access restaurant reviews and earn 3 new badges through the popular location-based servce.

And although many critics say these social media developments are nothing more than a case of anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better, they are also making both publications stronger in the long run.

So could these battling heavyweights knock each other out in their fight to be on top? Of course, but there's also the chance that this clash of newspaper titans could force both sides to continue to evolve and innovate.

Too much technology?

Everyone wants to stay up-to-date with each other, hence why social networks are so popular. But as they become more popular in the mobile world, at what cost do they have in the real world. The picture below and article from the New York Times put things into perspective.

The bottom line: People will always be distracted by something. Whether it is cell phones, iPods, or a new advertisement on the street; people are easily distracted. The best way to deal with it is to reinforce good habits, but my guess is that there will always be a new device that will be taking attention away from where it should be directed.