Anatomy of a Rumor Shows Why They Call Blogs NEW Media

Frank Barnako analyzes the rumor that AOL will soon launch a MySpace competitor.

His take is that the rumor is little more than "Brilliant self-hype" by Jason Calcanis ( "a self-promoter of epic proportion") about a story Business Week ran in January.

"But that's not the most interesting part of Barnako's post. This is:

"...in the real world, when a new battle is brewing, such as an assault by Time Warner against a property for which News Corp. (NWS) paid $580 million, the execs dummy up. The suits scurry around, divert their eyes, and certainly do not answer their phones.... Calacanis acts just the opposite"

Of course Calcanis, who really is the consummate self promoter, acts just the opposite. That's why they call it NEW media. New rules apply.