One of our favorite sessions at the recent Tools of Change for Publishing conference in NYC was the engaging discussion between media theorist Doug Rushkoff and Twitter co-founder Evan Williams about the future of the Web, and the implications for authors, readers, and the publishing industry.

Happily for those of our tribe who couldn’t attend, you can view the chat between these two luminaries below. But read a bit about each of them here first to better appreciate the wisdom they bring to the table about the present and future of online content and where professional writers and authors will fit in to this brave new world…

We’d also encourage you to sign up early for Williams’ newest venture, Medium. After cofounding Blogger (long form blogging) and Twitter (micro-blogging), Evan says Medium will offer a “medium” in between!

Douglas Rushkoff, PhD, is a world-renowned media theorist whose twelve books, including Life, Inc and Program or Be Programmed., have won prestigious awards and have been translated into thirty languages. He is a commentator on CNN and a contributor to The Guardian, Discover, and NPR. He also made the PBS documentaries Merchants of Cool, The Persuaders, and Digital Nation. He advocates for digital literacy at Codecademy.com, and teaches at NYU and The New School.

Evan Williams co-founded Blogger, which he ran for four years before selling to Google in 2003, and Twitter, where he was CEO for two years and now serves on their board. He’s now launched Medium, currently in private beta. Evan is CEO of The Obvious Corporation, which supports world-positive ideas and technologies through building, investing, and advising. He’s been recognized as one of Inc. Magazine’s Entrepreneurs of the Decade, one of the 100 most influential people in the world, according to TIME, and named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.