Fifteen years after the Internet broke into the public consciousness, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. That was never more obvious than during an intriguing discussion at a meeting of an organization called MAP, which included a number of local media professionals - including many who buy advertising for a living and some who sell it.

The panelists each had 20 years experience in a number of different, yet related, areas - including digital strategies, sound recording, photography, marketing strategies and public relations. Their experiences have given them different views on the value of the Internet. Audience members offered more views.

Moderator Kevin Popovich, head of a creative company, ideahaus, seemed to have embraced using social media for marketing campaigns. He quoted a campaign for a client that got 140,000 Facebook fans for 4 cents each.

Yet, he was rebuffed by an audience member who claimed 140,000 fans is small compared with the reach of a typical large city network TV station. (Guess what the audience member did for a living? Right. He sold TV advertising for CBS affiliate KDKA-TV.)

In reality, they're both right. Different campaigns have different requirements - as do different marketers. What one considers a success, another might consider a failure. It depends on their goals.

Here are a few interesting tidbits that were voiced during the hour.

• It's harder to buy media today than it was 20 years ago.

• It takes more touches with the audience today to get your message across.

• People are trying to overanalyze what we do. The Internet is a reason they're doing it.

• Newer technologies don't let you do new things. They let you do the same old thing more efficiently. (Of course, there was plenty of evidence to the contrary during the discussion - but nobody ever related it back to that statement.)

• The iPad won't change the world. The fact that we all communicate differently will change it.

• Video and Internet standards are still fragmented, making it difficult for creative people to be efficient when they create for the Internet.

• Forget The Real Shaq. PR people are writing the tweets that we see on Twitter.

• One attendee, a motivational speaker, said, "Nobody knows what to do about Facebook."

OK, so many marketers are clueless about Facebook (and iPads); but others are getting a lot from them - because they've taken the time to understand them. They've looked for examples about how others have used the programs effectively. They've experimented.

It seems to be working for at least some of them. Business Week tells us Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, revealed its biggest advertisers have increased spending by 10 times. That indicates to me that they think something is working.

In my mind, that doesn't decrease the need for traditional media, which will likely change as our generations change - because people born in the last 15 years don't know a world without the Internet or the third screen (cell phones).

Most of us now get our information from multiple sources, which supports the statement above - that it's harder to buy media today than it was 20 years ago. I guess that's why we need to analyze so much.

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