links for 2011-06-29

Besides being wildly expensive to create, hyperlocal news doesn't seem to appeal to a broad audience. Or, to argue on safer grounds, the current wave of hyperlocal news has yet to summon huge audiences. Hyperlocal proponents say users crave engagement, which is true. But users seem to be voting with mouse clicks to engage the world through Facebook, Yelp, Twitter, and other forms of social media instead of sites like Patch. And even old-school mediums such as email, listservs, and texts often convey information more hyper than your average hyperlocal site.

The social layer doesn’t replace social networks, of course. We’ll still continue to use Facebook, Twitter, and the things that come after them to keep up with friends, find new ones and discover information. The social layer is built on top of the networks, made possible by the fact that the networks themselves are no longer a novelty.