There’s a gaping hole in the internet. It’s an unfathomable network allowing communication between almost every person in the developed countries. But in our cities, where tens of thousands of people live within a half mile of each other, sense of community seems to be declining. Seems like the internet could bring back that lost sense of community somehow.
The internet has made several attempts at community relations. On one hand we have craigslist, connecting local strangers anonymously for housing, buying/selling stuff, finding soccer teams in new places, etc. On the other hand we have facebook connecting people who have already met to share photos, statuses, messages, and other fun info. But there’s still something missing. That something is called neighborcasting. Or so I just named it.
Imagine a service where you signed up for a profile and were presented with a map. On the map, you draw an area that represents where you live. This could be a circle around a building, a block, a neighborhood, or a whole city, depending on how comfortable you are with disclosing your whereabouts. Then, a bunch of other circles or squares show up on the map in your area. There is a list of filters that you can choose to sort through all the information — among them:
- Events going on within x hours from now (with many sub-categories like music, hiking, volunteering, etc. )
- Item share (sugar, USB cables, a special tool, a tent)
- Restaurants and stores (with many sub-categories)
- Random musings (what people are thinking about)
- For sale
- Looking for a date
- Going to the park with dogs
- Ride share to x location (you choose x on a second map)
- Advice
- many more
You see, other people would put out neighborcasts, specifying which category it fits in, where it is located, and how long of a range it has. For instance, if someone’s looking for some baking goods from someone in their close vicinity, they can set their cast so that only people within a few blocks can see it, thus eliminating clutter. In your filters, you can even ask to “show me neighborcasts in my area that have a range that is less than 10 blocks,” so you don’t have to see advertisements or other spam (which will be banned out of the commercial filter).
Today, I heard about a new site that is offering the first real neighborcasting service! I signed up and it looks pretty reasonable, with at least half the features I’m imagining would be useful. There’s a Capitol Hill neighborhood already set up, with 4 users! I think this has huge potential as it adds features such as fine location control and more categories. But in the meantime, check it out!
