On this day of remembrance for our nation, I've been struck with how we as a society now commemorate major events in America's history.

I won't address the topics of terrorism, the politics of our government's prosecution of the "War on Terror" nor will I share my personal memories of 9/11 here. There are many better places to look both online and off for dialogue on these topics.

Instead, I'd like to explore – just briefly – how we as a society are remembering 9/11 from a communicator's perspective, and examine how new media channels and technologies are changing the way we look back, as well as forward.

In the years following major milestones in our country's history – be it the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the assassination of JFK, or the landing on the moon—we’ve traditionally looked back and commemorated these events by sharing our personal experiences with one another (largely verbally and in person), and by replaying the public records of these events, primarily the stories which dominated the popular media channels of the day.

Do you remember the early days of space exploration through the skillful reporting of Walter Cronkite?

Or the well-known footage of the President's motorcade that fateful day in Dallas in 1963?

Or the newspaper headlines of December 8, 1941?

When I compare the way we've historically looked back at major milestones with how we're remembering 9/11 today, I see significant changes being fueled by the new ways we're sharing information and communicating as a society.

The Internet and digital communications channels have made our collective memory of watershed events more vivid and more long-lasting.

Mainstream media now makes it easy for citizen to relive events. CNN offered a full day of its 9/11 broadcast feeds to online subscribers of its Web-based video channel “Pipeline” today. Users can logon and watch minute-by-minute as the events unfolded 5 years ago from their desktops.

Consumers are playing a more active role in remembering, too. Indeed, many of the most riveting images and videos we recall from that fateful day in September came from citizen journalists—the real people who found themselves thrust into one of the most significant world events of a generation. Armed with portable video cameras and photo-enabled mobile phones, those on the ground helped form our collective consciousness. And, of course, the then-nascent bloggers found themselves sharing their experiences from Ground Zero with a worldwide audience through the click of a mouse.

The speed and ease by which historical events can be shared and relived is amazing. Truly, the Internet has transformed the way we remember into a sort of “digital consciousness” stored on hard drives, web sites, blogs and photostreams which will live in perpetuity.

For professional communicators who manage the reputations of organizations, this societal memory has far-reaching implications, too. Companies who find themselves in the midst of scandalous events – be it accounting irregularities, products malfunctions, etc. – find it harder than ever to move beyond missteps and erase the collective memory of society in today’s digitized world.

Our founder, Al Golin, talks a lot about trust. In the future, it will be increasingly important for companies to consistently build trust with constituents through honest dealings and socially-responsible business practices. In our digitized world, past sins may be forgiven but they’ll never be forgotten.

So too will we never forget the horrible events of 9/11/01. They’re only a click away and embedded into our “digital consciousness”.