Back in the early days of the Internet, it seemed like it was all about connecting with people around the world. I remember being fascinated with the idea of chatting with other teenagers around the country back in the early-90s. It was new, and it was fun.
Making connections and friends around the world is still fun, but I really like the idea of using a network as wide as the Internet to find information and people in my neighborhood. That’s one reason why I like Yelp best out of all the social networking sites – Yelp is actually a useful, practical service! My girlfriend and I consult user reviews there nearly every time we think about trying a new restaurant or bar, and nearly always check it out if the reviews are positive.
Today I was excited to learn about outside.in, which describes itself as "the best way to discover the conversations that are going on in your neighborhood." It collects information about specific neighborhoods from around the Web and brings it together for easy viewing. At a quick glance I was able to find out about new business openings, concert lineups and criminal activity taking place in my little neck of the woods. It’s a massive, global network being used to focus on a small area of only a few square miles. I think that’s a pretty cool idea.
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