In the last few months I've noticed that the debates surrounding the current and future directions that UK podcasting is taking have intensified. The whole space seems to me to have had a new emphasis and urgency injected into it. Activity in some quarters of the web has proceeded at a breakneck pace, with posts flying backwards and forwards on various forums on a daily basis, as those who sense the commercial and social possibilities of this technology, get busy with the hard work of constructing their glistening podcast empires.

Much of this activity has been driven by the explosion of interest in podcasting from a host of individuals, companies, and organisations, and the resulting early overtures of the marketplace. No-one perhaps anticipated quite such a rapid acceleration, but it has happened nonetheless, and the implications for those of us interested in the future of the podcasting space are fascinating.

The current vogue, perhaps inspired by a desire not to be left-behind, means forming a podcast network, an agency, a consultancy, a  company, or even an association. The main purpose it seems, is to establish your interest and your group, as a "legitimate" authority on your particular podcasting patch. I'm not sure how much of this is down to the social dynamics of the podcasting "community" and the web, or how much of it has evolved organically.

An early casualty of this explosion of interest has been that some of the initial openness has vanished ever so slightly. The community, whilst still a fairly warm and inviting place, has become a little less accessible to newcomers. As the numbers rise, (of both listeners and creators), the virtual territory of the "Podosphere" is beginning to be carved up by those ambitious enough to stake their claims in the new media landscape.

Podcasting is relevant because it's the right technology at the right time. Five years ago, and almost nobody would have seen its relevance. In five years time, it'll be part of the digital furniture. Like blogs and e-bay, and buying goods on Amazon, it will become just another thing that can be accessed on the 'interweb'.

Right now however, "Podcasting" alongside such terms as "convergence", "citizen media", and  "social networks", is one of THE business and creative buzz words. This is all very different to the way the space looked here in the UK little less than a year ago, and in itself represents significant progress. Podcasting is out of nappies and into shorts now, and where there are crowds of podcasting toddlers there are bound to be a few messy accidents!