Postings: Letting the Internet Knock on the Door

The New York Times > Real Estate > Postings: Letting the Internet Knock on the Door

The article describes and internet website that attempts to facilitate nieghbors meeting neighbors. Created by the the author of TheLunchClub.net, this website went online last month and has had some success. People simply want to find ways to meet people, whether online or in real life, using tools available to them (tools that are both physical and digital).
T
his is fascinating and amusing at the same time. Most importantly, it's not a YASN idea, but an idea based on a physical location, dependant on physical proximity and an individual has to champion the physical aspects of things. This is important - despite the attraction of YASNs they hvae largerly failed to produce any reason for their existence, aside from the occasional showing who you know, etc. Sites that have a reason for existence and are capable to introduce some aspects of a YASN (providing a map of buildings for example and suggesting that people from nearby buildings might want to meet, etc), these are the ones that are more likely to become successful. What's even more interesting, is that these sites in particular, are successful precisely because they base themselves in the phyeical realm, using the digital as a tool to get closer physically... awesome...