Interesting thoughts from Jack Shafer in Slate about the current lot of newspapers, and their loss of ''social currency.'' Says he:

The phrase, which comes from sociology, is often used to describe the information we acquire and then trade -- or give away -- to start, maintain, and nurture relationships with our fellow humans.

Although printed newspapers used to be the ATM machines of social currency, he argues, the on-line world of social networks and blogs have taken on the task more quickly and more efficiently. Of course, the quest for knowledge tidbits for cocktail conversation and dinner parties is only one of the motivations to read a newspaper. And there are many dynamic forces at play in the newspaper's current struggles.

Although the story is about newspapers, it carries to arts and culture, as well. Arts attendance used to be a significant source of social currency, as well, especially among the elite. What artist or performance you had seen (and who you had seen there) were part of the public self you sought to maintain, and a portion of the conversation you were expected to engage.

On-line interaction and social networking has also grabbed a large volume of that real estate. And live attendance has lost one of its claims for attention (don't worry, we've got others).

So, how do you compete against social networking and on-line social currency? One way is to ensure that your brand of culture is available as an element of that on-line world. Case-in-point: ArtShare, an application for Facebook that allows any user to ''hang'' great works of art (from major real-world museums) in their public profile. The user gets to select works that match their tastes or their preferred public identity. The museum gets an on-line plug and a tacit endorsement of its organizational value.

Ka-ching.