Social networks emerging in a community near you

November 6, 2007

To declare that social media is exploding in our society is an understatement. The Washington Post published an article yesterday in the Business section about the many "start ups" that have emerged in the DC area seeking to take advantage of the new social media frenzy. Here's an excerpt:

Web's New Field of Dreams Emerges in D.C.
New Internet Companies Piggyback on Popularity of Social Networking
By Zachary A. Goldfarb
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 5, 2007; Page D01

The wave of social networking and interactive content companies that has washed over Silicon Valley, promising to upend Internet business models, has reached the Washington area.

A modest community of about a dozen such companies, with names like Mixx, Searchles and Qloud, has emerged in the region in recent months. These start-ups hope to build on the success of YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and other interactive media sites by creating applications that piggyback on -- or replicate -- the goliaths.

The rest of the story...

One such venture not mentioned is Modern Mom launched in October by Hulya Aksu. Ms. Aksu served in many leadership roles of businesses catering to women including CNN International as a writer and producer.

Modern Mom is a combination of web social media and a print magazine focused entirely on catering to Moms, from health, children, home, and lifestyle to fashion, food and just plain Mom fun. Modern Mom is initially focused on Loudoun County and hopes to capture 20,000 Moms as loyal readers and social participants. Hulya discovered there was a void of anything catering to moms and has put the infrastructure in place to build a community of connected moms contributing to the lifestyles they share. Modern Mom is complete with "Blogs Du Jour, Modern ChitChat, Sisterhood News" and much more. This is social media at a very local level.

Think globally, act locally

Another social media site recently launched is @Home in Raspberry Falls. Raspberry is a local Loudoun County community developed by Van Metre Homes and its Marquis Custom Home division and is set in the midst of the acclaimed Raspberry Falls Golf and Hunt Club. The new site is sponsored by the community HOA and features a public portal with community news and information as well as a private section for Residents Only to share important information of common interest. This may well be one of the first HOA community sites completely based on Blogging infrastructure.

The old media is static and is designed to push information to its audience. The new media is about audience participation. In both examples above, content is created and shared by its participants. A successful global capability brought to a very local level.

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