Comments on: What does hyperlocal mean? And what does that mean for news?

By: Weekend reading: Five blog posts from the last seven days « David Higgerson

Weekend reading: Five blog posts from the last seven days « David Higgerson — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:39:41 +0000

[...] 2. What Does Hyperlocal mean? [...]

By: Jon Bounds

Jon Bounds — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:33:18 +0000

Don't think you're wrong — community is one of my definitions of local here (although it's almost – not quite — as misused a term, at least in online circles).

By: paulslatter

paulslatter — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:28:53 +0000

Jon Hickman – you said what I was going to say – thank you! People have been here before you know. Community Networks in the real world were about long before the technology (and for that matter long before folks like me stuck our noses into them). But… we got quite a long way in working stuff out, especially in Brum: so it's kind of frustrating to listen to you guys sometimes ponder the same paradoxes dressed up with a bit (a lot) of tech. I think we're fixing up to meet soon Jon (B) – let's talk communities too?

By: Jon Bounds

Jon Bounds — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:46:43 +0000

I think that's what I'm getting at — because of targeting, the same adverts don't need to be shown as widely, which ultimately results in less money.

By: Jake Grimley

Jake Grimley — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:42:38 +0000

“The phrase in the US is “print dollars become online dimes” (or somesuch) — the same content (and a potentially wider audience for each piece) doesn’t generate the same revenues. This is because it’s possible to split, target and assess those eyeballs and click-throughs.”

Not sure I totally understand this bit. Generally advertising 'impressions', whether online or offline are more expensive, the more targeted they are, not cheaper. It could be that for the first time, online, marketers are seeing evidence of the tiny number of meaningful impressions they are actually making, and this is resulting in an overall crash in the price of advertising, both on-line and off-line.

By: Philip John

Philip John — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:03:48 +0000

Really? I don't think so… they'll become much, much smaller and largely aggregate content from bloggers, hyperlocals and feed from independent journalists on the ground. They'll be like editors. @DavidHiggerson has some interesting thoughts in that area, actually…

By: Jon Bounds

Jon Bounds — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:38:47 +0000

I think I'm more worried about what happens when those existing large scale media outlets break down — because I do think that's inevitable.

By: Philip John

Philip John — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:31:46 +0000

Oh yes, very! That bit about who covers the regional development agency is very interesting. I'd suggest that existing local media (Northcliffe with Lichfield Mercury) sort-of cover the county-level stuff while regional media (e.g. TM with B'ham Post/Mail or ITV/BBC) do the regional stuff like AWM. That leaves us to cover the City & District Council and community groups like North Lichfield Initiative (a small part of Lichfield City, which is a small part of the District that we cover)… that needs more of a co-ordinated network though, I reckon.

By: danslee

danslee — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:15:34 +0000

You are quite right to say that 'local' is hard to pin down, Jon. The word is in fact banned by most newspapers. Why? Because it's so vague it doesn't really mean anything a all. What someone may see as local may be their street. For another, it's their estate, their town or their county.

There are some brilliant hyperlocal sites out there doing an often great job.

As a former journalist of 12 years and a local government for four I strongly believe that where hyperlocals meet local government meet traditional news media is a fascinating place. It's the frontline of web 2.0. It's where theory is meeting everyday practice.

I haz blogged on the subject here: http://bit.ly/lhGCt

I'd be fascinated to see how it all plays out. I'm particularly interested in how media groups try and move into the sector. Anecdotally, this is already happening in the North East and also in Canada. This may not be such a bad thing if it harnesses passion for a community with traditional newsgathering skills.

In the meantime, try:

The Lichfield Blog http://thelichfieldblog.co.uk/
WV11.co.uk http://www.wv11.co.uk/
The Ventnor Blog http://ventnorblog.com/

You are quite right to say it's exciting.

By: im00

im00 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:54:39 +0000

nuAlerts is connecting local residents who want to be the first to know directly with important community leaders who are "in the know" via social networks and more! Several Mayors and leading organizations are already using nuAlerts and anyone can start posting their important information at www.nualerts.com