I’m a big fan of Steven Johnson. In fact, reading his first book, Interface Culture, helped me wrap my brain around this digital age in which we live. I just came across his latest venture, a site called outside.in.
Devoted to hyper-local content, outside.in unites the wide range of voices that make up a local, or neighborhood community and brings it all together online. The site currently tracks over 3000 neighborhood in more than 50 cities. The content consists of aggregated blog posts emanating from a particular locale, along with resident profiles (aka “neighbors”) as well as event listings and news. The primary navigational device is a small Google Maps interface that allows the user to dynamically filter the page content based on geography...pretty cool.
Navigation aside, there are many amazing Google Maps mash-ups, including this time-lapse Brooklyn buzz map. Check it out.
This site is definitely worth keeping an eye on, as they figure out hyper-local advertising and develop more offerings.
Whitney Browne
Strategists & Planners