Comments on: About the Backfence Closing http://citmedia.org/blog/2007/07/08/about-the-backfence-closing/ Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:49:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Tracy Ulin http://citmedia.org/blog/2007/07/08/about-the-backfence-closing/comment-page-1/#comment-1639 Tracy Ulin Sat, 14 Jul 2007 19:41:50 +0000 http://citmedia.org/blog/2007/07/08/about-the-backfence-closing/#comment-1639 Hey Dan -- I talked with Backfence folks last fall about joining the company. Beyond the evidence that the model couldn't scale, I was most struck by the fact that the people were unable to talk about the business conceptually beyond a "[insert latest concept here]'s time has come" theme. The Backfence people I met with didn't have an understanding of the history or issues that brought us to this point. I heard Backfence say the exact same thing I've heard countless *newspaper* people say: if you build it, they will come. I've had the good fortune of working on the earliest blogs (your first one, remember?), a worldwide social networking initiative (I was part of eBay's recent launch of wikis, blogs and reviews) and citizen publishing (I designed the concept into Knight Ridder Digital's product plan in 2001). As usual, the technology has made great improvements... our collective thinking is evolving much more slowly. Dan, it'll be really helpful to learn more about why Backfence thought it would work in the face of evidence that suggested otherwise. Personally, I'd also love to see why they (or anyone else) thought of hyperlocal as a strict geographical concept. Hey Dan — I talked with Backfence folks last fall about joining the company.

Beyond the evidence that the model couldn’t scale, I was most struck by the fact that the people were unable to talk about the business conceptually beyond a “[insert latest concept here]‘s time has come” theme. The Backfence people I met with didn’t have an understanding of the history or issues that brought us to this point. I heard Backfence say the exact same thing I’ve heard countless *newspaper* people say: if you build it, they will come.

I’ve had the good fortune of working on the earliest blogs (your first one, remember?), a worldwide social networking initiative (I was part of eBay’s recent launch of wikis, blogs and reviews) and citizen publishing (I designed the concept into Knight Ridder Digital’s product plan in 2001). As usual, the technology has made great improvements… our collective thinking is evolving much more slowly.

Dan, it’ll be really helpful to learn more about why Backfence thought it would work in the face of evidence that suggested otherwise. Personally, I’d also love to see why they (or anyone else) thought of hyperlocal as a strict geographical concept.

]]> By: media mindshare: on news, technology & media relations It’s been a coupla hyperlocal news kinda days … « http://citmedia.org/blog/2007/07/08/about-the-backfence-closing/comment-page-1/#comment-1638 media mindshare: on news, technology & media relations It’s been a coupla hyperlocal news kinda days … « Tue, 10 Jul 2007 21:34:13 +0000 http://citmedia.org/blog/2007/07/08/about-the-backfence-closing/#comment-1638 [...] About the Backfence Closing Dan Gilmore at the Center for Citizen Journalism says ‘hyperlocal’ is a misunderstood and perilous concept. Posted in social media, newspapers, journalism, media. [...] [...] About the Backfence Closing Dan Gilmore at the Center for Citizen Journalism says ‘hyperlocal’ is a misunderstood and perilous concept. Posted in social media, newspapers, journalism, media. [...]

]]> By: Andy Vogel http://citmedia.org/blog/2007/07/08/about-the-backfence-closing/comment-page-1/#comment-1637 Andy Vogel Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:45:23 +0000 http://citmedia.org/blog/2007/07/08/about-the-backfence-closing/#comment-1637 There are at least a few of us Backfence.com veterans that are continuing (in our own way) to use the lessons we learned. I'm working on citizen media initiatives via an alternative weekly in Milwaukee, and have used word-of-mouth tactics we used in Chicago, where I was the Backfence.com GM, and found a better way to market to a very politically active group. I know that others are back in media, with Smalltown, and with consultancies working more on the community development and speech aspects versus the "hyper-local" pieces. Hyper-local really seemed to be a marketing term and not very descriptive of what we did. There are at least a few of us Backfence.com veterans that are continuing (in our own way) to use the lessons we learned. I’m working on citizen media initiatives via an alternative weekly in Milwaukee, and have used word-of-mouth tactics we used in Chicago, where I was the Backfence.com GM, and found a better way to market to a very politically active group. I know that others are back in media, with Smalltown, and with consultancies working more on the community development and speech aspects versus the “hyper-local” pieces. Hyper-local really seemed to be a marketing term and not very descriptive of what we did.

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