Sharing vs. Searching

During the panel discussion on Friday one of the most interesting points made was on how we come upon information and entertainment on the Internet has changed. Sites that aggregate content, such as StumbleUpon, Reddit, Tumblr, and Digg are replacing search engines. What does this mean for the supposedly participatory nature of New Media? While people do make much of this content, such mindless autonomous acquisition could return us to earlier, more television-like, types of acquisition.