To know where online journalism is going we have to identify the big thinkers behind it.

The Online Press Gazette has made a list of the top 50 in the “new establishment” of online journalism. It’s a little biased towards UK thinkers, but the list, which includes Rupert Murdoch and Oh Yeonho (Ohmynews) at the top, Jeff Jarvis and Nick Denton almost square in the middle and Dan Gillmore near the tail end, is insightful because of the few names squeezed in that have nothing to do with journalism at all.

Ranked 12th and 13th are Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, founders of MySpace. What does Myspace have to do with journalism? A few comments on the post asked this same question.

One commentor wrote:

“MySpace may share an ultimate owner with Times Online, for example, but the two have very little in common in terms of their aims.”

And he’s right. Aside from being a horrible platform to blog, the social networking site has done nothing obvious for journalism. So why include it on the list?

Because it is THE social networking site, and in network journalism being interactive with the audience is a key shift. Kevin Anderson recently said

“Blogging isn’t a publishing strategy; it is a community strategy. … But I see the same mistake being replicated with blogging. Newspaper publishers and broadcasters often fall into the trap of trying to understand new media behavior through old media paradigms. Podcasting becomes another distribution channel, and blogging becomes another publishing platform. Adding comments to the bottom of stories or columns is a step, but it’s missing the point.”

The same could be said of social networking sites. They aren’t just a place for journalists to find sources or a new web property for newspapers to buy up and place ads. Because of its size MySpace feels ubiquitous, but social networking sites have the potential to bring like-minded people together to help journalists tap into the wisdom of the crowd.

UPDATE: MediaVidea is extending the list to 100 and I think on the right track.

Danah Boyd is working on a timeline of social networking sites.