I think that these are very interesting and could be wonderful tools. I do not think that they should, would, or could even be considered for replacing local newspapers though.
First of all the obvious decline of these certain sites are that being from Nebraska none of these sites pertain to my local news. Even when I decided to look up a small town in California they did not have any listings for the town. I realize smaller towns will take some time to show up on such sites, but there is a definite fall back to this.
I did like the EveryBlock site but then again I would never consider what I found to be breaking news that I must know about. This website is intresting and informative, but it would not be able to take the place of a newspaper.
Finally, I also visited the Placeblogger. I liked this site! I even decided to sign up for it and added my NECC library blog to the list of available blogs. I think it was interesting and could be fun for business, individuals and local newspapers. However, I also found another downfall: I couldn't find our blog that I had posted for Norfolk, Ne.
Overall, these sites are great, fun and informative. For these sites to be considered for taking over local newspapers though, I wouldn't say that it is impossible, but I would have to say that it is definetly going to take some time and tweaking to get to that point.
To understand what these things are that I am blogging about please click HERE , or to see our NECC Library Blog for Norfolk, Ne Click HERE .
Thank you!
