US: Newly launched Backyard Post provides neighborhood news and networking

Posted by Carolyn Lo on April 2, 2008 at 2:53 PM

After 574 days of development, Palm Beach Post's Online Innovations Editor William Harnett and his crew released Backyard Post, a website which brings the "Neighbors" section of a newspaper to the Web.

Backyard Post features an interactive map, where users can click on their neighborhood and share news and connect with their neighbors on personal pages. They can also find news on schools, libraries and parks.

Harnett writes: "Think of the value you can build on top of that foundation of neighborhoods. Not just value for your users, but value as well for the 80 percent of local businesses in your typical market that don't consume any form of newspaper advertising."

Though the site is still being developed, it is a good solution to emphasize the community section of a newspaper and to get readers involved, taking the concept behind Everyblock to another step.

Source: SPJ