Today at the J-Lab Citizens’ Media Summit, I gave a sneak preview of Placeblogger.com, which will contain a browsable directory of placeblogs across the US.
What’s a placeblog? A placeblog is a site dedicated to a particular geographical community — a county, town, city, or neighborhood.
Thus far, I’ve identified nearly 700 placeblogs in the US, and I think there’s quite a bit more. There are only ~19,000 incorporated places in the US, so having 1,000 placeblogs would mean that 5% of US communities would have a placeblog.
Placeblogger.com will provide a growing, browsable directory of placeblogs as well as a live aggregator of headlines from placeblogs across the nation. The project has had support from the Center for Citizen Media and Jay Rosen of Pressthink.com. Programming is being done by the folks at Click here for a closer look.
on Oct 5th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
Jay,
YoChicago.com has been up and running for several months and has several dozen neighborhood and suburban journals / blogs live, with plans to expand to over 700.
PlaceBlogger.com seems like a great way to promote local journal writers. Good luck with your efforts.
on Oct 6th, 2006 at 11:39 am
Joe — Thanks for dropping me a note! One thing I’m hoping for as the site goes live is exactly what you just did: help me find a new local site.
Lisa W.
on Oct 6th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
I just read that again. 700!!
Wow. That’s amazing. When we go live, the site will have a blog written by me about what’s going on in placeblogging. Expect to hear from me.
on Oct 7th, 2006 at 6:33 pm
Great metamorphosis! Just when you think that blogs are dying, up comes a new innovation. Bravo and all the best!
on Oct 8th, 2006 at 8:02 pm
How do you submit names of placeblogs? I’ve started archiving stories I wrote about Nevada destinations that appeared in various newspapers on this blog (http://backyardtraveler.blogspot.com/).
Rich Moreno
on Oct 9th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
Hi, Richard!
Very soon the site will be up and you can submit them, but in the meantime you can feel free to email me at lisa AT cadence90 DOT com.
I’ve put the link you mentioned in your comment in my list of stuff to add to the directory, but if you have anything else, or any questions, let me know.
on Oct 9th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
ESpeaks,
I saw your blog entry about Placeblogger. Thanks so much! I’ll be watching your blog.
Lisa
on Nov 1st, 2006 at 1:13 am
[…] This is one of the wonderful themes of change in the news business. As individuals we are empowered to be journalists –- whether we report on events we’ve witnessed, a community we’re a part of or an issue we’re investigating. […]