In a posting Friday on Poynter Online, Michelle Ferrier writes about the Washington Post's floundering hyperlocal community site, LoudounExtra.com, pinning its struggles on a lack of "high-touch" activity.

Ferrier says that a hyperlocal site is "not about technology, but rather about what technology enables: community building."

Community building, according to Ferrier, constitutes personal, face-to-face interaction between site moderators and their users. She claims that Rob Curley, designer of LoudonExra.com, failed to do enough to build rapport with his users.  

"I think perhaps [Curley] lost track of the value of being in the community while focusing on building widgets and messaging technology.

"Building on my rural experience, at MyTopiaCafe.com, I regularly do what I consider to be the online equivalent of waving to my neighbors...I publicly acknowledge their participation," Ferrier writes.

She insists that hyperlocal editors must connect with their users "in the real world - at field trips, photographing school dance troupes...in K-12 classrooms and higher education lectures."

A successful hyperlocal website, in other words, is an engaged one.

"Ventures like this need a 'community weaver' - a local native who is passionate both about the community and about fostering community relationships online - and face to face," Ferrier writes.

Source: Poynter Online