links for 2011-07-08

No matter what, there is no formula for relevance in hyperlocal, and no guarantee either. The winners here, if there are going to be any, will have to be imaginative and courageous and really smart. And good at working with others. Permanent link to this item in the archive.

Can members promote commercial products or services that promise to improve health?
Businesses pay to participate in WellCommons. If they do pay, they use the same tools and have the same access as anyone else. We believe that in any community such as health or sustainability, the business community’s information is as important as anyone else’s. In fact, when I started out in newspaper journalism and watched people reading the paper on the bus commute, it was pretty clear to me that the information in the ads was just as important to them as any story I wrote. Sometimes more important, especially when I would hear people discussing at length a department store sale, and skip over my story.