Forget Social Networks, I want a Community Network
I previously went into a little detail about why I like Northpack so much. As a very quick recap, Northpack is possibly the first well made geographically-orientated blog aggregator (certainly the first I’ve been part of), and I have been very charmed by its existence.
I began musing what I’d like to see Northpack do next, but to be honest, I’m content with a utility that just visualises the discussion going on around me. Perhaps it would be nice to see more focus on the people behind the discussion, and the events that are happening - and neatly tying that all together, but really there is little more expansion that appeals to me.
It then struck me as a shame if Northpack could not be shared with people outside our region. I choose those words carefully, because it is imperative to me that Northpack does not become inundated with ‘noise’ - spam or blogs from people not within a short drive (that would undermine the point & the magic). The only realistic option is to white label the product, so each region can have its own community represented.
However, white-labelling felt somehow restricted. As if the bigger picture - or at least a bigger opportunity for fulfilment - was being overlooked. Then it struck me, I wanted to see a joined up network of communities: a community network.
The motivation is that I like the local factor. I like the little hub of activity, with its own unique interests and players, and I like the self-containment and self-management of that. But, the reality is I travel all over the UK and I have friends and colleagues all over the UK, and so I want to see what is going on in their communities (and I suspect many of us are like that). But crucially, I want that small community feel to remain intact. I want to ‘dip into’ the communities.
At the end of my working day, I want to be able to virtually fly around the UK. I want to see what issues have affected the different communities, what events have been going on, what interesting things are happening.
More practically, if I’m about to travel somewhere, I want to be able to immerse myself in that community before I arrive. I want to understand what has been going on there, who are the people I should be making an effort to get to know, what events will be going on when I arrive, what interests people and what conversations do people enjoy. It would be almost like someone giving me a unique local information pack when I arrive at the city gates.
Visually, I imagine a large Google Map of the country, and I can click on a city, and a HUD will be displayed showing recent blogs, recent chatter (Twitter), and the events that are going in. If the community network is sophisticated, it’ll highlight which of those blogs, tweets and events my friends have written or will be attending. I will have a ‘news stream’, where I’ve given it several locations (my home, places I work, etc.), and it’ll tune the feed of blogs/tweets/events to things within a 20 mile radius of each location (and perhaps I can define the strength of each location to determine how many updates I want from there).
From a financial and management perspective, the technology can be centrally managed, but each community needs to represent itself. So, a handful of local socialites in each city/region create a community, spread the word, manage the events and filter the quality. Revenue wise, the system can make money promoting local news, services and events, with the community network owner taking a cut, and the rest going to the local representatives.
At a high level, it bridges the gap between existing local ties and the global nature of the Web. It heightens an individual’s sense of community, without the community itself feeling isolated from the rest of the country/world. It allows an individual’s output to find a new and appreciative audience, without being instantly lost in the noise of the global players. It feels like something that is missing from the Web, something that is not currently being fulfilled. I want it.
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Hey Andy - this is such a great concept.
I myself have been getting more and more into personal blogs recently. For quite a while I have been into tech blogs like TechCrunch and CrunchGear. However, as a commuter more recently it became interesting to come across some Londonite blogs. Even more interesting would be a way to track down blogs of those actually closer, such as someone else from Ascot or whatnot.
Very interesting…
Very interesting idea Andy, one that has a lot of potential, thanks for the article.
Your ideas remind me of Craigslist, albiet using newer technologies - perhaps a vision of Craigslist 2.0? Althought based around cities rather than regions, Craigslist has certainly demonstrated there’s a market for locals on the web, and they’ve had some success in branching out their framework to other cities.
With that in mind, one route of expansion seems fairly obvious - aggregate more locals & local content. As a techy myself, the focus of Northpack is extremely relevant, however there are lots of blogs by people in all walks of life, all related by geography. We all have interests beyond our main profession, and bringing together a community of communities within a region would make the concept more inclusive and valuable for all.
I wonder how much some of the coming location-based technologies will help to automate large parts of this vision? For example, aggregating blogs based on geo-location of their hosting IP or contact information, or socially filtering content based on commenters location - where are the locals regularly participating?
This all relies on people sharing their location which a lot of people are not comfortable with, however, by focusing on regions, rather than specific towns or streets, it could provide enough anonymity to satisfy the majority.
One question remains though, when are you going to build it?
I have been working on a blog response to this since I have read it and really echo a lot of what is here. I have written large sections and thrown them out. I am still working on it, but it is back at a blank screen again.
There is a lot of stagnation right now. It is iterating and improving at a slow pace. It is frustrating not because it is moving slowly, but the things that are getting improved upon have been done in the past many times, but many of the tools and services did not start with what was learned in the past as a baseline, they started as if this stuff has never been thought of or tried previously.
Much of my inspiring conversation is all done over the internet/web these days to UK and continental Europe, Canada, and the San Francisco Bay Area. There are a lot of us that care deeply about this stuff and doing it well and making a difference to raise the level for all, but we are all distributed.