Keep Your Friends Close, Neighbors Closer

I like anything that helps us create a sense of community in this cold, impersonal world and I really like Backfence.com.

 

Backfence.com is a new way to find out what's going on in your own neighborhood. The information and insight comes from the people who know your neighborhood best--you and your fellow neighbors.  Whether it is a tip on a decent falafel joint, the name of a trustworthy handyman, photos from the block party, or the 411 on that new construction project down the street, Backfence.com is a source for news and conversations and shared wisdom of the local community.

Like i-neighbors.org, Backfence calls itself a leader in a new phenomenon called “citizens’ journalism”—the type of grassroots media where the audience itself decides what’s important and writes about it. Each Backfence.com site is focused on a specific town (and soon enough will probably further divide by self-identified neighborhood I would venture), and provides a repository of shared share information and a place for neighbors to comment on that information—bringing together the community's collective knowledge. From the site:

You can use Backfence to post and comment on news and information about your community, to list upcoming local events, to share photos of people, places and happenings around town, to put up a free classifieds ad or to review a local business.

In other words, the kinds of things that used to be talked about over the back fences before they were electrified.

Comments

[Steve W]

Don't forget the virtual community builders--like mylifecircles.com, which can be connected to real life community information.