I've been trying to think of what to say about TIME's choice of "You" -- as in Web 2.0/social media -- as its Person of the Year.

The magazine wrote:

The new Web is a very different thing. It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it's really a revolution.

And we are so ready for it. We're ready to balance our diet of predigested news with raw feeds from Baghdad and Boston and Beijing. You can learn more about how Americans live just by looking at the backgrounds of YouTube videos -- those rumpled bedrooms and toy-strewn basement rec rooms -- than you could from 1,000 hours of network television.

At first, I was going to rush out a post. But then I started thinking about what to say ... and came up blank. We've written before on this blog about the growth and importance of Web 2.0 in communications. Some of my Taking Communications with Farrell Kramer podcast episodes deal with this, such as our look at the social media press release.

So where to go? Upon reflection, I believe the key point for us is that TIME has recognized the importance of these developments. TIME -- as traditional a media outlet as there is -- is trumpeting the importance of the new Internet, which allows everyone to contribute with posts, comments and votes.

Combine this with recent developments like The Washington Post allowing comments on all its online news stories and The New York Times recently deciding to include Digg and other social media posting links to news stories, and we've got a powerful idea: Traditional media is going to follow where the bloggers and podcasters have led.

And this means that as communicators, we know just what tools to keep handy and just what skills to hone as we head into 2007.