Think globally, blog locally
Before our recent political hiatus, we were on a jag about blogs needing more of a local focus. Not that we don't like a high-profile, traffic-cranking post as much as the next Snitch. But such posts are like hot dogs - do you really want to eat them three times a day, every day? (All right, if that's your diet, fine. Don't email us, and for God's sake don't send photos.)
Anyway, we're going to be posting pretty much nothing but local issues until the June 14th election. And we're finding that there may be a trend toward local blogging. Instapundit's on about it, which is ironic since Instapundit by nature encourages the 'non-local' blogging we've been concerned about.
What may be happening is that all the pandering for traffic is crowding itself out. (How many posts on Condoleezza Rice's outfits do you really need to read, anyway?) Meanwhile, local issues have been underserved, and now folks looking for national news online are expecting to find local news as well. Since there are fewer outlets for local news and commentary, those dealing in it are beginning to get more notice. It's all about saturated and unsaturated markets.
And that's a good thing.
In some areas, local blogs have achieved a critical saturation point, and interesting things are starting to happen. We can discern from their experiences what's likely to happen in other places, such as here in Hoboken. (Hoboken blogs have at least doubled in number since we started Mr. Snitch early this year, and many of these are quality sites.)
The blog ecosystem is still developing and sorting itself out, and we're all looking for the local-blog 'Instapundit' equivalent that will help drive traffic. It's more likely, though, that traffic and support will arrrive from numerous, modest sources rather than a great big one. We mentioned that the Jersey Journal now covers Jersey blogs pretty regularly. We've noticed a new local-celeb cable show, "Across the Hudson", and numerous Hoboken webzines that have been springing up. They're rough around the edges yet, but all have the potential to nurture and cross-pollinate local Hoboken blogs, and we suspect similar situations are arising in other parts of the country/world.
We maintain regular updates re what's happening on the local blogs. We'll re-evaluate, and (probably) add to our local blog listings in a future post.
See also: Glocal
{UPDATE: If you found this post via a "Real Hoboken" search, you may want to read this.}
Categories: Blog marketing, Blogging, Local blogging, Internet culture
posted by Mister Snitch! at 7:49 AM
5 Comments:
This all bodes well for our next project - Anal Douche: The Movie! (What's that? Oh, we beg to differ - we know of nothing MORE local than anal douche...)
Good God -- if you saw that RealHoboken site, would you want to live here?
Eric, you make a valid point. The RealHoboken site is NOT for me, for sure. It's shallow, flimsy, noisy, and generally not my style. It's certainly not the 'real' Hoboken I know. But I figured that's a factor of my age - that the site simply appealed to a younger reader. The candidate I worked for in the recent election, Scott Delea, thanked them for their assistance in his final ad. (I don't know what they did for him, perhaps they hosted a web banner.) Anyway, there are a number of webazines and other sites concerning the area which have been popping up lately. RealHoboken was just the one I grabbed when I put up this post.
When I came to Hoboken over 20 years ago, it was August. The Christmas decorations from the year before, giant candy canes, were still hanging from the lamp posts (which were actually highway lights pressed into service) on Washington Street. And the original Mr. Snitch still appeared in the local paper (then called the Hoboken Pictorial).
That's the Hoboken I made my home, not the Hoboken of the Lua and the Shipyard. But change is part of life, and I accept it as such. I can imagine many changes I'd care for a lot less, that's certain. But I sure am glad to hear I'm not the only one who doesn't believe RealHoboken has anything to do with the 'real' Hoboken, though.
Here is the column realhoboken ran on Scott Delea, It was not a banner ad:
http://www.realhoboken.com/columns/contender.htm
Mr. Snitch should call himself Mr. Bitch instead because all he knows how to do is complain but offers nothing in terms of solutions or optimism.
Funny how he calls realhoboken.com, which I think is the most professional and entertaining site ever to come to town (what's better? Hoboken.com? Hobokeni?), "flimsy" considering his website is looks and reads no better than a telegraph.
Then again, Mr. Snitch sounds like a 45-year old lonely loser who wants Hoboken to go back to the good 'ol days of crime, ugliness and zero growth.
It's over, Mr. Bitch. Go find a corner bar still barely in business and die already.
Hey, Jesse, thanks for the ray of sunshine. You, uh, wouldn't be involved in that RealHoboken site even a little bit, wouldya? 'Cause it does sound like you took my comments (and Eric's, I guess) kind of personally.
It's fine if you don't like my site. (I have a feeling you'd like it a lot better if I'd fawned over yours, though.) Fact is, RealHoboken is far from "the most entertaining and professional site to ever come to town". I mean, geez, give it a rest. It's a new site, it needs work, and frankly, how would you know if I have anything to offer by way of solutions? You didn't ask what could be better (actually, you told me NOTHING could be better, 'cause RealHoboken is the best site ever), you just told me to "die already". (As far as dying goes, it wasn't top of my list, but I'll get to it eventually.)
Anyway, hey, obviously you're offended, so I apologize for the remarks. In fact, folks: Dump my crappy site like the hot turd it is and head on over to that oasis known as RealHoboken.com, where winners and beautiful people like our pal Jessepalmer3 hang out. And go there ready to LOVE it, dammit.
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