I’ve been following with some interest the email threads for the Knight-Mozilla News Technology Partnership challenges. The challenges encourage developers and others to build new tools for journalists based on open source tech. It presents a good opportunity for the news business, which continues to struggle in some sectors and could use some creative thinking to help it transition to the modern news marketplace.

Today I’ll be giving a presentation by phone to the National Educational Telecommunication Association covering what’s next in social media. The topic is very broad and difficult to address, as those of you who follow the social media business understand. Every day it seems as if there’s a new social media startup that’s poised to be the NBT and capture the public’s attention. So I’m going to do my best to introduce some of the networks and apps that garnering the most attention.

I’ve been on hiatus from ianhillmedia.com for the past week or so to focus on writing entertainment posts for Recordnet’s LENS blog and building Twitter.com/209Vibe (left), a resource for music and entertainment fans in Stockton and Modesto, California. The latter is the fourth active Twitter account that I run or help maintain.

209Vibe on Twitter is designed to serve as a local entertainment wire. Promoters and musicians Tweet or send me information about upcoming concerts and events and I (re-)Tweet it. I also re-Tweet entertainment stories from local news organizations and occasionally interact with performers.

My goal is to make Twitter.com/209Vibe the first stop for local residents who want to know where they can go for nightlife in their community.

In its first five days, Twitter.com/209Vibe attracted 85 followers and been added on three lists. It may not sound like much, but considering there are probably less than 40 active Tweeters in Stockton, I’m very happy with the results so far.

It’s gotten me thinking a bit more about best practices for print reporters who Tweet. Reporters who have a smart, realistic approach to Twitter can use it to reach readers and build the sense of community that’s vital in the new media world.

Originally, this post was meant as a warning to newspaper journalists. I planned to offer a biting critique of arrogance in journalism to make reporters aware of how self-righteousness can impact their blogging and their careers.

The headline was “Don’t call your boss a moron in public unless you’re willing to get fired.”

But as I wrote I realized the post would most likely be too harsh to make a convincing argument. So I decided to take a different approach and instead offer another tip for print reporters who blog (and, for that matter, Tweet and regularly use Facebook.)

8. Think before you post. The Internet is a free-wheeling place. Almost anything and everything is acceptable online and can attract a hugely supportive audience. It’s a large part of why the Internet is so entertaining.

But that laissez-faire spirit, when combined with the self-importance inherent in print journalism, also can create a tricky landscape for newspaper reporters to navigate.