
Wanted: Hyper Local Disruption - apgwoz
http://irevolution.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/wanted-hyper-local-disruption/
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thailandstartup
I wonder if creating a local wifi hotspot with a captive portal would be a
good way to jump-start these hyper-local groups. So a user logging onto the
local open wifi hotspot is re-directed to the local group, which might be
Yahoo or Google group - or even a local noticeboard/forum that is accessible
only from that hotspot.

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arnorhs
Isn't something like ning.com perfect for this functionality? Also, a Facebook
group could work fairly well.

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thenbrent
This exists: <http://www.lifeat.com>

Has done for some time: [http://techcrunch.com/2007/10/16/does-your-building-
need-a-s...](http://techcrunch.com/2007/10/16/does-your-building-need-a-
social-network-why-not/)

Since reading that article almost 3 years ago, I've not heard another thing
about it. I guess it's pretty hard for hyper-local networks to spread like the
wildfire of Facebook et. al.

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maukdaddy
Google Groups. My 4 unit building uses groups to share info, docs, and
anything else that residents need to know.

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adamsmith
My first surprise moving into my first apartment was that, unlike dorms,
people didn't socialize with one another. I found that very odd and
disappointing, but soon after realized why: unlike college students, people
living in apartments are at different stages of life and have different
interests.

There are a few compelling use cases to hyperlocal social networking. This
article touches on a few, but confuses them with the type of relationships you
have with friends.

Yes, there are probably some people in your building that you would actually
want to be friends with, but it's not clear IMO how to make that happen. If
there really were that many people around who you could be friends with,
people in apartments would hang out regularly offline, and they don't.

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dreaming
Certainly would have its benefits for residential issues, though baking
cookies for the neighbors becomes a real efficiency challenge at 400 people.

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sprout
Bah. Assuming 2 cookies a person I can manage that with one oven.

500 though, then I probably need a second oven to put out that many cookies at
a reasonable rate. I mean, you're not going to get them all at once, so it's
pretty simple to spend a Saturday churning them out. And assuming I spent
_all_ Saturday I don't think 600 people would be out of the question, though
distribution would require a few friends.

Of course, that's the point of cookies is winning friends, so that part can
take care of itself, just so you pick your first friends wisely.

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mthreat
I've had these same thoughts myself while walking to the laundry mat in my
apartments. I know that Ning exists, maybe it's too general? Maybe a social
network for apartments would get more usage? You'd have the problem of
verifying that someone lives in the apartments (facebook used to verify you
went to school.edu by your school.edu email address).

