Whither Blogging?

Two developments (one gradual, one acute) highlight the rapid maturation of the blogging phenomenon, even as they cast doubt on its future shape:

1) San Francisco attempts to regulate blogging. Five words for this: R-O-T-F-L. Too bad it's such a nice place to visit. Perhaps they've never read this.

2) A trend towards group blogs. By contrast, this makes complete sense. Look at any industry you want (automobiles, computers, newspapers, fast food, etc....) They all enjoy an initial flowering phase of individual heroic, innovative effort, followed by consolidation of those efforts into more sustainable enterprises. From a corporate perspective, group blogs may prove more palatable as a way for teams to share information and points of view asynchronously without the drawbacks of tools such as e-mail that are inherently closed and difficult to reference.

UPDATE I: Canada may surpass San Francisco in clamping down on blogs. Good luck. A comprehensive set of links and commentary on this story can be found here.

UPDATE II:  This piece, 'Bloggers Feel a Chill' provides a number of references to the little noticed Surpreme Court 'pass' in the Pennsylvania case 'Norton vs. Glenn' last week that will impact free speech, blogging and the intersection with libel and campaign finance law.