My friend Lisa Williams has just launched Placeblogger, a ( long-awaited) web service that aggregates and highlights content and feeds hyperlocal sites–not only news sites, but community sites, enhanced directories (like, where to find a plumber or a organic pepperoni pizza), personal narrative sites focused on an area, and so on. The locus can be a neighborhood, town, or region, but there’s a clear focus tied to that place and to the people contributing. The service is launching with 750 blogs, but the one goal is to make Placeblogger a comprehensive starting point for finding these kinds of sites. As Irina Slutsky says, kinda ” MySpace for your town.”
Lisa says about Placeblogs: “They?re about the lived experience of a place. That experience may be news, or it may simply be about that part of our lives that isn?t news but creates the texture of our daily lives: our commute, where we eat, conversations with our neighbors, the irritations and delights of living in a particular place among particular people.”
Jay Rosen of PressThink and NewAssignment.net and Dan Gillmor of The Center for Citizen Media are two of the advisors for this project (I am honored to be the third); Evan Williams, Dave Winer, Tish Grier, Lisa Stone, Elisa Camahort, Jory DesJardins, Ross Karchner, The Berkman Center for the Internet and Society, and the Berkman Thursday Blog Group are also among those credited.
Susan sez: As much as local web sites and services keep being reborn and re-aggreated, this effort offers something new: a chance to collect hyperlocal links, create a viable directory and establish–eventually–some cool services and products based on these feeds.
Bonus: Lisa’s list of ten of the top place blogs she knows about–can you help her add a few?
1. Baristanet, Montclair, NJ
2. Edhat, Santa Barbara, CA
3. Fresno Famous, Fresno, CA
4. Westport Now, Westport, CT
5. ChiTown Daily News, Chicago, IL
6. New Haven Independent, New Haven, CT
7. Gotham Gazette, New York, NY
8. Philly Future, Philadelphia, PA
9. MN Speak, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
10. Duke City Fix, Albuquerque, NM
Track placeblogger mentions here; admiring references to Lisa’s talent with OPML here.
Join the placeblogger discussion group here.
My friend Lisa Williams has just launched Placeblogger, a ( long-awaited) web service that aggregates and highlights content and feeds hyperlocal sites–not only news sites, but community sites, enhanced directories (like, where to find a plumber or a organic pepperoni pizza), personal narrative sites focused on an area, and so on. The locus can be a neighborhood, town, or region, but there’s a clear focus tied to that place and to the people contributing. The service is launching with 750 blogs, but the one goal is to make Placeblogger a comprehensive starting point for finding these kinds of sites. As Irina Slutsky says, kinda ” MySpace for your town.”
Lisa says about Placeblogs: “They?re about the lived experience of a place. That experience may be news, or it may simply be about that part of our lives that isn?t news but creates the texture of our daily lives: our commute, where we eat, conversations with our neighbors, the irritations and delights of living in a particular place among particular people.”
Jay Rosen of PressThink and NewAssignment.net and Dan Gillmor of The Center for Citizen Media are two of the advisors for this project (I am honored to be the third); Evan Williams, Dave Winer, Tish Grier, Lisa Stone, Elisa Camahort, Jory DesJardins, Ross Karchner, The Berkman Center for the Internet and Society, and the Berkman Thursday Blog Group are also among those credited.
Susan sez: As much as local web sites and services keep being reborn and re-aggreated, this effort offers something new: a chance to collect hyperlocal links, create a viable directory and establish–eventually–some cool services and products based on these feeds.
Bonus: Lisa’s list of ten of the top place blogs she knows about–can you help her add a few?
1. Baristanet, Montclair, NJ
2. Edhat, Santa Barbara, CA
3. Fresno Famous, Fresno, CA
4. Westport Now, Westport, CT
5. ChiTown Daily News, Chicago, IL
6. New Haven Independent, New Haven, CT
7. Gotham Gazette, New York, NY
8. Philly Future, Philadelphia, PA
9. MN Speak, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
10. Duke City Fix, Albuquerque, NM
Track placeblogger mentions here; admiring references to Lisa’s talent with OPML here.
Join the placeblogger discussion group here.