Comments on: NY Times Goes Hyperlocal … But Does It Change Anything?

By: CNN Invests in Outside.in : HyperlocalBlogger

CNN Invests in Outside.in : HyperlocalBlogger — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:43:19 +0000

[...] CNN invests in Outside.in … MSNBC buys Everyblock.com … the New York Times has launched its hyperlocal effort called “The Local” … AOL has its hyperlocal project called Patch … the [...]

By: UK Papers Going Hyperlocal, Too

UK Papers Going Hyperlocal, Too — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:27:19 +0000

[...] not just US papers that are going hyperlocal (see NY Times and Seattle [...]

By: Dave Oremland

Dave Oremland — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:39:05 +0000

I grew up in that region…but it has been so many years….I’m not the one to comment on the critique referencing different towns and types of people….YET….

A few miles away….and in a similarly densely populated area a reasonably long surviving hyperlocal blog and one which is oft cited….baristanet….has been seemingly doing quite well…..serving several towns and several types of demographics among those neighboring towns.

Not everyone in the area to be covered is a potential customer. Some in the area are extraordinarily town only centric…..others will have interests in the activities of several towns. I respect the reasoning of the author of the NYTIMES blog….she lives there. I also suspect those have been prime territories for hard copy NYTIMES deliveries.

In any case…good luck. More examples from which to learn.

By: Steve Sherron

Steve Sherron — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 19:08:02 +0000

You nailed it Matt. I thinks it’s about neighbors, neighbors, neighbors. I thinks it’s about everyday normal local people who feel like they are part of your hyperlocal community site. It’s about people who call you and tell you about a local event and ask if they can get a mention on your site and you say yes, and surprise them. It’s about the look on a store owners face who gave you good service and you tell them you are going to give them a very positive review on the front page of your hyperlocal blog. If you first start with marketing, I think you have it reversed. The Times most likely has it reversed, only time will tell. Build a community and they will come. As I have worked very hard on my site, my number one focus has been on my community. I most certainly want to market and earn revenue also at some point. My neighbors can call me and I answer. I can’t imagine my neighbors calling me and going through a 4 minute series of commands only to reach a voice mail. The Times can succeed if they engage their community. I found this article about the Times not responding to their readers and already apologizing for it. http://maplewood.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/were-not-ignoring-you/
Instead of writing an article about not responding, they should have spent that time responding. Like you said Matt, it’s about neighbors, passion and mundane stuff that we have to do. I guess responding to readers may be a little too mundane for the big boys.

By: David Mihm

David Mihm — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 20:57:27 +0000

The URL alone makes me think this will fail miserably, although it’s nice to see them linking out to other blogs from the nytimes.com domain name in their first couple of posts…hopefully the bloggers on the ground will “get it” more than the guys at the top who chose the URL.