DISQUS

Peter · 2 years ago

zowie - good work.

wonder if any of the other fledgling/flailing local content sites will listen.

Eric · 2 years ago

Great post. Makes me think of the opportunity for local media right now:

They need to use their established brands and their still-real print power to build their web sites.

I've seen a few college newspaper sites this year start doing really well over the past year or two, and the communities on them have exploded in size.

Steve Boriss · 2 years ago

Excellent points, but I also think that in the future when hyperlocal sites actually provide decent news of people's local communities, it will crush Web 1.0 content. Topix has learned that there's just not very much good hyperlocal news content out there yet. The day is coming for this type of news, but we may have to wait until the Internet-convergence-driven collapse of metro-area news outlets and the subsequent flood of advertiser dollars to hyperlocal sites. (Steve Boriss, TheFutureOfNews.com)

bernard lunn · 2 years ago

Excellent analysis. It connects with my personal experience. I live in a tiny village that has a web site/community, a lot of issues to do with fighting developers and that is what matters to the locals. If I forget the URL I just Google the name of the village. Local is Local - duh! For outsiders looking at the area it is about travel/lodging/restaurants/entertainment and those are pretty well coverred.

Max Kalehoff · 2 years ago

Scott,
Further to your point, USENET actually still is a thriving platform. It's very unsexy, very un-Web 2.0, but very relevant.
- Max

Scott Karp · 2 years ago

Max,

Imagine USNET with rounded corners -- now there's a killer app!

John C Abell · 2 years ago

I agree that Backfence had a tough row to hoe because of RestonWeb (etc.), but what about this factor: Reston is served remarkably well by three weekly newspapers. Not bad for a population somewhat north of 56k that isn't even a town. Can the demise of Backfence also or actually be a case of an entrenched non-digital media slaying a newcomer?

Paul Chaney · 2 years ago

I've done a lot of reading on hyper-local since the Backfence announcement, and I have to give it to you. I think you've hit the nail on the head on this subject better than anyone I've read so far.

I especially like your phrase, "The problem with all the thinking on hyperlocal is that it’s focused on what we think people need, i.e. more local news reporting, not what they want."

Some good old-fashioned commonsense at work there.

Blurgle · 2 years ago

The idea behind Backfence, that people have more in common with locals and enjoy discussing local matters, is the problem. Most people online would rather discuss their favourite topic with someone in Russia than the mayor's re-election campaign with their closest neighbour. That's one reason why they go online: to find people who are interested in what they enjoy.

It was a flawed idea from the start.