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Subject: [permaculture] neighborhood websites
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2004 10:01:22 -0700 (PDT)
As some of you may be aware, over the years I've been involved in a couple
of local attempts, 'unsuccessful', to collectively birth the development
of portable web technes supporting local neighborhoods. Patience, laddie.
A raather interesting arrival on the scene, just gone live, is
I-Neighbors.org, a social networking site based on geography, rather than
affinity. It's the creation of a team outta MIT with support from the
National Science Foundation, among others. The design metaphor is both
adroit and, whaddayaknow, gratis.
Unlike other websites that allow global, national, or city-wide
communication, I-Neighbors links members of a single neighborhood, defined
by the people that create them.
This service went live last week. Within a matter of days, there are
already three neighborhood websites up and running in my local zipcode.
For background on wot neighborhood websites can do for local 'hoods, check
out:
"Within a year the study found measurable increases in the number of local
social ties and the sense of community in two of the three areas where
I-Neighbors web sites and messaging were introduced. The changes included
the formation of new neighborhood social ties and higher levels of
community participation, both on and off the Internet."