You know how it is when the Internet world changes. It trickles, picks up speed and then the Big Realization sets in.
The political and media bloggers have been getting a lot of headlines. But they’re the circus, fueling attention around the idea of “blogging,” not the main event. That’s occurring in your hometown.
If you believe bloggers are building local communities of content around special interests: police, fire, schools, economic development, and local controversies, then the next steps are clear.
I’m assuming many on BlogCritics.org are writers, perhaps newspaper reporters. This is the group with the most at stake. Some argue that newspapers should incorporate blogs as part of their content. And that a newspaper should capture these subject matter experts, weed out the nut cases, set some standards, and use their expertise on issues such as zoning to build powerful, supplementary content. But I suspect many newspapers will act too late.
The next step in the development of community blogs is aggregation. You can expect Web sites to form, if they haven’t already, in your towns and cities that will collect and combine these specialized content blogs. The early models are emerging.
Local Web site aggregators will use technologies such as RSS feeds to keep the content fresh. They’ll also draw in advertising, accelerating the shift away from local newspapers, in much the same way Craig's List is pulling away classified advertising. Throw in an editor, reporter or two and you have the beginning of an online newspaper forming around these blogging sites.
As I type these words, the obvious blogging domain names are being claimed in big cities. The name acquisitions will work its way down soon enough.
For instance, I searched a dozen names in Kansas and a couple of other states.
Article comments
1 - David Flanagan
Excellent post and excellent points with your article. I would love to set an aggregator site for my hometown, but I'm not sure how one goes about doing that.
Any advice?
David
2 - KOB
I wish I could help you there. A simple website using an existing blog interface, such as Blogger, is one way to get started. But the technology aspects, such as using RSS feeds and forms, is something I'm trying to teach myself.
3 - DrPat
There's WebRing, designed to do just that. Wikipedia says the org was first acquired by Yahoo, then spunn off again. Example: UK Walking: The UK Walking WebRing was set up to link together sites with content of interest to walkers and hikers in the UK - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
4 - KOB
Good link -- thanks.
5 - Angela Chen Shui
Great post, thanks. Fun blog too, btw!
6 - Eric Berlin
Really good post indicating one of the avenues that blogging is heading down. I believe blogs to be the next generation of Internet content, and it's fascinating to see how far it will go. Perhaps the online newspaper aspect won't materialize, perhaps it will. But what seems obvious is that blogs will be a force for change for a long time to come.
By the way -- shouldn't this post be listed under the Culture/Tech category?
7 - KOB
Angela -- Thanks for the kind words.
Eric, Good point. An regarding your point about the posting category, you're right. I should have posted this under culture/technology.
8 - Eric Berlin
King - Thanks. And it's not too late to switch -- just go back to your post, change to Culture/Tech, and republish.