There's a social networking site called Local2Me.com (http://www.local2me.com) that solves this. (Disclaimer: it's my site.) Each person defines their own group geographically centered around them, using lat/lon coordinates to define their community. Early on, users can start with big circles (e.g., people within 15 miles of me) and as the group grows, they can individually choose whether to be connected to more and more neighbors, or re-scope their community to, e.g., 3 miles. Thus it scales extremely well, making it easier to get critical mass initially and then solving the crowding problem later.
It's been around for several years and is popular in the Bay Area Peninsula where I've focused. (Only available in U.S.) For the naysayers who think this is anti-social, let me tell you - it works. People love being easily connected with locals. They get trustworthy referrals for local businesses and are able to form impromptu groups. Local2Me users regularly report that they have met many more locals in person as a result of the service than they would have otherwise.
One man formed a spur of the moment singing group that he used to propose to his girlfriend. Another woman asked for places to get high quality used toys to bring to kids in Mexico for Xmas, and the community poured out their free used toys - so much so that she had to go back to the group for suitcases! All this resulted in many face to face meetings.
Thanks for the mention, Krellan. There's a lot more we could do with Local2Me but it does have the feature you mention - log in to the web site and you can browse and search your personalized archives via web message boards.
I wanted to let you know about a free online community service we run called Local2Me.com that connects groups of neighbors together in locales all over the U.S. It lets each user choose their group of people to connect with based on distance from them and age range, e.g., "people who live within three miles of me." Neighbors then trade messages via group email or web message boards. (It's kind of Yahoo Groups meets Match.com.)
The service has subscribers around the country, and is most heavily used in greater San Francisco Bay Area neighborhoods. The "Guest Login" link off the home page will give you a peek into a SF peninsula locale's discussions.
While it is challenging to get the word out, users in populated areas are thrilled with its usefulness and it is growing quickly via word-of-mouth.
--Michael
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Within the "neighbors Local2Me" community, residents share recommendations on restaurants, schools, contractors, doctors -- almost anything they can think of and get connected to their local communities. The service is available nationwide but is hyper-local in nature. It is getting national attention, having been selected as an innovative web site by PBS TV's NetCafe show that aired around the country from Feb 14-20, 2002. (Other media articles available via Local2Me web site.)
This service is unique for community builders because:
* there's no setup - easy growth - groups form automatically as users sign up
* a user doesn't need to know the name of their neighborhood to sign up
* when less critical mass, users use broader personal circles to connect with people further away
* as it gets popular, users can tighten personal circles to control message traffic
* people communicate with each other across neighborhood boundaries as well as within neighborhoods
QUOTES: Here are some recent quotes from users:
* "The lady who gave us the [carpenter] referral invited us to her home to see [the work]. That is as 'neighborly' as it gets."
* "Both my husband and I have gotten Lasik surgery thanks to unanimous [Local2Me] recommendations of one doctor."
* "It is wonderful to count on neighbors I haven't even met who have answers to questions I haven't even been clever enough to ask."
Please sign up and help spread the word: http://www.Local2Me.com
Slashdot Mirror
There's a social networking site called Local2Me.com (http://www.local2me.com) that solves this. (Disclaimer: it's my site.) Each person defines their own group geographically centered around them, using lat/lon coordinates to define their community. Early on, users can start with big circles (e.g., people within 15 miles of me) and as the group grows, they can individually choose whether to be connected to more and more neighbors, or re-scope their community to, e.g., 3 miles. Thus it scales extremely well, making it easier to get critical mass initially and then solving the crowding problem later.
It's been around for several years and is popular in the Bay Area Peninsula where I've focused. (Only available in U.S.) For the naysayers who think this is anti-social, let me tell you - it works. People love being easily connected with locals. They get trustworthy referrals for local businesses and are able to form impromptu groups. Local2Me users regularly report that they have met many more locals in person as a result of the service than they would have otherwise.
One man formed a spur of the moment singing group that he used to propose to his girlfriend. Another woman asked for places to get high quality used toys to bring to kids in Mexico for Xmas, and the community poured out their free used toys - so much so that she had to go back to the group for suitcases! All this resulted in many face to face meetings.
--Michael from Local2Me
I wanted to let you know about a free online community service we run called Local2Me.com that connects groups of neighbors together in locales all over the U.S. It lets each user choose their group of people to connect with based on distance from them and age range, e.g., "people who live within three miles of me." Neighbors then trade messages via group email or web message boards. (It's kind of Yahoo Groups meets Match.com.)
The service has subscribers around the country, and is most heavily used in greater San Francisco Bay Area neighborhoods. The "Guest Login" link off the home page will give you a peek into a SF peninsula locale's discussions.
While it is challenging to get the word out, users in populated areas are thrilled with its usefulness and it is growing quickly via word-of-mouth.
--Michael
--------
Within the "neighbors Local2Me" community, residents share recommendations on restaurants, schools, contractors, doctors -- almost anything they can think of and get connected to their local communities. The service is available nationwide but is hyper-local in nature. It is getting national attention, having been selected as an innovative web site by PBS TV's NetCafe show that aired around the country from Feb 14-20, 2002. (Other media articles available via Local2Me web site.)
This service is unique for community builders because:
* there's no setup - easy growth - groups form automatically as users sign up
* a user doesn't need to know the name of their neighborhood to sign up
* when less critical mass, users use broader personal circles to connect with people further away
* as it gets popular, users can tighten personal circles to control message traffic
* people communicate with each other across neighborhood boundaries as well as within neighborhoods
QUOTES: Here are some recent quotes from users:
* "The lady who gave us the [carpenter] referral invited us to her home to see [the work]. That is as 'neighborly' as it gets."
* "Both my husband and I have gotten Lasik surgery thanks to unanimous [Local2Me] recommendations of one doctor."
* "It is wonderful to count on neighbors I haven't even met who have answers to questions I haven't even been clever enough to ask."
Please sign up and help spread the word:
http://www.Local2Me.com