#localwebis

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0235: /trailercakes

Social media marketing that is actually... social...

This account is fictional. The local web is not affiliated with Trailercakes.  The local web isn’t available yet, these are just examples of what could happen.

Trailercakes is a bakery in Dallas that serves up delicious cup cakes each day.  Heather who runs the place engages in all forms of local marketing platforms like Yelp, Facebook, Google Adwords, and Instagram.  It’s a lot to manage, especially for some one whos core competency is baking awesome cupcakes.

Recently, instead of trying to make sense of her various analytics dashboards, she decides to make a presence on the local web.  

She startups up /trailercakes by simply going to localweb.is/trailercakes and posts a few pictures of her baked goods.  Then she posts pictures of her daily specials every day to /trailercakes.  She puts a sign in her store that customers can interact with her on the /trailercakes ‘slash’ and some do, asking questions or posting their own selfies with her delicious cupcakes.

What does this all mean?  Well, by being active in /trailercakes and responding to customers it causes her ‘slash’ /trailercakes to rise to the top of the front page of the local web.  It doesn’t mean she has a worldwide audience, or even a city wide audience, but it does mean that those who are browsing the local web within a 10 minute walk can see this activity and wonder whats going on.

Fortunately, the people who can see this activity are also the most likely to be her customers and regulars.  Yelp is great for figuring out good places when you first move someplace or when you have a specific need, like searching for a bakery.  But the local web offers a bit more serendipity.  You may live near Trailercakes but not even know its there, until it’s ‘slash’ starts surfacing while browsing the local web.  You may choose to ‘hold’ the slash for a few weeks, just seeing what goes on there, and when you are ready, going into the store at that point makes you already feel like a regular.

For Heather it works out great because what matters on the local web is activity and simply be being social with her customers and fans, she is promoting her business.  There is no need to optimize local SEO keywords for the odd person googling “cupcakes Dallas”.  There is no need to pay Facebook to reach the people who have already ‘liked’ your establishment.  The local web just amplifying Trailercakes already warm and inviting presence.  The local web was built for local businesses.

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Image via Claire K on Flickr

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0234: /bus.stop

We, the people, of this bus stop...

Ah the many things to do while waiting for the bus.  There is 1, using your phone. 2, using your phone. 3, staring blankly out into space, and 4, using your phone.

Waiting at the bus stop is a daily activity that millions of Americans partake in every day.  Often, in silence, on their phones.  Even if there is other people waiting with you, its a pretty anti-social affair.  

But it doesn’t have to be.  Using the local web, you can communicate with your fellow bus stop brothers and sisters.  When you get to a bus stop just pop on localweb.is/bus.stop and set your filter to 100 meters.  You will see messages people have posted, to that very bus stop and its dwellers.  It could act as a digital bulletin board, or just a place to drop some bus stop wisdom, or bus stop jokes.

You probably know about /bus.stop because some one put up a local web sticker with the localweb.is/bus.stop URL on it.  That’s really all it takes to visit or create a slash.  Each bust stop is different, and savvy bus riders follow the /bus.stop slash on their mobile location group, which means that as they are riding the bus, from stop to stop, they can briefly see all the /bus.stop messages people have left, before the bus starts to drive away to the next stop.  

Yeah, the content at various /bus.stop slashes isn’t Tolstoy, but it isn’t “The 13 Best ClickBait BuzzFeeds of 2016 You Can’t Miss” either.  It’s local content, written by locals.  It’s content from your fellow bus riders.  It’s just one of the many stories that are told in your city using the local web.

Pro tip: The Number 55 Admiral bus line in Providence has a rider that writes a poem each day, and drops a single line at each /bus.stop.  In order to read it, you have to be going inbound and following on a mobile location group.  If you are riding the bust outbound, the poem is backwards. but still cool.

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Image via Rene McGurk on Flickr

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0233: /u/popo

Whoop whoop that’s the sound of the police

If you hear someone shout “popo” and you are engaged in illegal activities, then you know what to do: stop the activity and casually walk/run away because the police are nearby.  But those are the old days.  Today everyone has a phone so shouting “popo” deserves a more advanced solution.

If you spot the police rolling by, or you spot undercover checking I.D.s at a bar, or you know a party has been broken up, just leave a post on localweb.is/u/popo for your friends, campus buddies, or other evildoers to find.  That way, they can save themselves the trouble of dealing with the police.

The /u/ means that it is an unlisted slash, so it won’t appear on the homepage of localweb.is.  Ideally, this means the police don’t know about it’s use, but you can never be sure.  Maybe the police are using their own unlisted slash to fight crime themselves.  Either way, following /u/popo is a good way of keeping your criminal record to a minimum.

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Image via Michael Burns on Flickr

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0232: /pay.to.pickup

Ok, no one wants it, now what?

So you couldn’t unload your stuff at /free.to.pickup.  Apparently those vintage and stained chairs just are not anyones style any more.  Well... you just can’t leave it on the curb, it needs to be removed.

Renting a dumpster will cost a few hundred bucks at least, and there is no way all that stuff will fit in the back of your Subaru.  It’s time to post to localweb.is/free.to.pickup.  Just take a photo of the lot and post what you are offering, maybe $50.  Anyone with pickup truck could take that stuff to the dump and probably profit $20 or so for 20 minutes of work.  Not bad.

Or maybe someone will just want to take on your “problem” for 50 bucks and keep the stuff in their garage.  Who knows, who cares.  You are willing to pay $50 to have this stuff moved off your curb.

All of the slashes like /free, /free.to.pickup, and /pay.to.pickup are not categories that were created by the folks at local web HQ.  They were created by patrons themselves, and spread by patrons themselves.  By allowing patrons to use the local web the way they want to, it creates the most efficient avenue to getting stuff done, sold, or just moved.  If there is no /pay.to.pickup in your area, just make it by simply going to the URL and posting.  Someone will see it.

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Image via Bradley Gordon on Flickr

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0231 /free.to.pickup

Set it (on the lawn) and forget it.

So maybe you are not giving away hugs and you really do need to just get rid of this stack of cooking books.  Well just take a photo, and drop a post on localweb.is/free.to.pickup and there is a good chance someone will come by to get it.  The posts you see there aren’t just from your state or city, they are from within 3km and might be right next door.

If you are having a yardsale and it’s getting late in the day. Start snapping pics of some items and post them to /free.to.pickup to drive some attention to your yard sale.  It’s a clever way to promote some “loss leaders” for the tail end of your yard sale.

Sure you can post an add to craigslist as well, but there might be more people looking at /free.to.pickup and chances are they are closer, which means your stuff has more value.  The free stuff on Craigslist isn’t such a great deal if you have to drive 15 minutes to get it.  Some patrons even have alerts on their phone when stuff is posted to /free.to.pickup within walking distance of them.

Of course if there is no takers, then you might have better luck at /pay.to.pickup.

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Image via Derek Hatfield on Flickr

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0230: /free

If you love something, let it go...

What started as a simple way to get rid of free stuff you had accumulating has turned into something much more.  Sure you can put that old desk and winter coats on /free and someone might pick it up, but these days /free has evolved into a different purpose.  

People started putting “free hugs” on /free, then “free conversations”, and “free friendships”.  Some people are naturally giving, and when they run out of hard good to give away, they give away part of themselves.

The people of /free are just looking to make their small corner of the world a better place by offering up their time and emotional energy.  There aren’t many places online where you can get a “free coffee conversation” because out current platforms are not really set up to do that.  The “free” section of Craigslist is mostly mattresses and other piles of semi-garbage.  Dating apps and other “connect to those around you” type apps come will all sorts of expectations.  

The local web is created and defined by the people who use it.  And patrons are using /free to share a part of themselves that is hard to commoditize.  Where else will your find your neighbors offering free garden planning, free art lessons, or free painted portraits (in exchange for being a model).  When you have a platform that is as open and flexible as human nature, you end up with a product that is closer to the human heart.

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Image via Marcel Hauri on Flickr

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0229: /christmas-trees

The tree is trimmed, time to share

For some people, the Christmas tree trimming is an annual family event.  To others its an expression of their decorating skill.  If you have a good looking tree going on, while not share it?  You earned it.

Just snap a photo and post to localweb.is/christmas-tree where you can see what your neighbors are up to with their tree.  It’s not really a competition.. ok.. it’s a little bit of a competition, but it’s all in merry fun.

If you haven’t bought your tree yet and see your neighbor has posted a great specimen of a blue spruce and you want to know where he go it, just ask!  Do you love your neighbors ornaments, drop a compliment. /christmas-trees is a celebration of this one aspect of Christmas and because all the posts are from people in your area, it’s an opportunity to get to know them a bit as well and spread some holiday cheer.

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Image via Selbie Lynn on Flickr

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0228: /munch

Social media?  Try local media.

Sarah Johnson is an influence food blooger in Providence, Rhode Island.  Whenever a new restaurant opens up, her reviews on her blog, “Munch,” can be an important part of that opening success or failure.

While she get’s a lot of traffic to her blog, her other social media accounts just aren’t moving the needle.  She often instagrams her meals but on that platform she is competeing with hundreds, perhaps thousands of other food bloggers across the world.  Providence is her domain, and she is a big fish in a small pond there.  These global platforms are like the ocean and it can be hard to get some attention.

She posts her food thoughts on twitter as well, but readers really aren’t on twitter.  Or at least not often enough to catch her tweets.  Her readers are localized to Providence.  That is where she has the most influence.  So instead of social media, she has turned to local media to get the word out.

While she posts full reviews of new restaurants to her blog, she gives short thoughts on most meals at localweb.is/munch.  She has followers there too and since she knows all her followers are in the area, she can get a lot of interaction. /munch or “slash munch” as its called in Providence can be useful tool to fill seats at any restaurant.  When Maria raves about the eggs benedict at the Seaplane Diner (not on the menu, you have to ask for them), it creates a lot of activity in the slash.  This causes /munch to rise to the top of localweb.is, which is like the front page of the local web.  When /munch is near the top, people in the area take notice. The next day, the Seaplane Diner has to print new menus since everyone is asking for the eggs benedict.  This is the power of local media vs social media, where most hashtags just get lost in the wind and noise.

Local media is just a natural extension of the local web.  Global platforms force global competition, when most of the time, what matters most is what you can walk to.  What you can actually experience.

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Image via Lori Stalteri on Flickr

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0227: /blues

What’s that sound?  Someone is playing the blues.

Where is the blues in your town?  Go ahead, google it.  You will find some club dates, maybe a festival in a few months.  But there is much more blues going on below the surface.

The blues are being played in garages, basements, schools, and small bars and coffee shops.  Places that don’t have an official booking, or a website, or an affiliation with Ticket Master.

Every bad situation is a blues song waiting to happen.

-Amy Winehouse

Just lost your job, well now you have a blues song.  Grab your guitar and head out to the park, start playing the blues.  But also post to localweb.is/blues.  People who are looking for the blues will be following that slash and you might attract a few fellow musicians.

It doesn’t always have to be so spontaneous though.  Is your local high school putting on a blues show with some great young talent?  It’s going to be hard to get the attention of the typical music gatekeepers in your city.  Just post to /blues.  When you are at the event, take a photo, post to /blues.  The activity will cause /blues to rise to the top of the directory at localweb.is.  Others in the area will see it, and because they are all local, and this is their highschool, it has more value to them then some blues show they have to plan a whole evening around.

Of course, if you live in a city where the blues is played quite often, you can just keep an eye on /blues to see what shows are really hopping that evening.  Who are the people exited to see that may be flying under the radar of local publications.

The local web removed the traditional gatekeepers from local knowledge and events.  Whats going on right now, to the minute, within walking distance? That’s what the local web will answer.  

And if there is nothing going on and the place is totally dead.... well then you have another blues song.  Post to /blues.

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Image via Chris Beckett on Flickr

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0226: /u/caleb-beard-diary

A private collection of a beard pic a day

The journey to one ‘yeard’ takes strength, determination, and often the right genetics.  It helps to document your progress and look back to see how far you have come.

Well Caleb here is trying to grow a bear and started an unlisted local web URL where he posts one beard pic per day.  Every day he just goes to localweb.is/u/caleb-beard-diary (its bookmarked as an icon on his homescreen) and quickly takes and posts a selfie.  Sometimes he adds and thoughts about his beard as well.

The /u/ makes it unlisted on localweb.is, which is a directory of popular and trending slashes.  The only way to know about Caleb’s beard diary is if he gives the URL out.  Sure he could just take photos on his phone and save them to local storage, but he does want to share the diary with some folks.  He gives the link to close friends and to the folks on /beard-selfie.  But mostly, it’s a private URL which makes it free from trolls.

Whenever Caleb is suffering from beard induced depression and gets the urge to just shave it all off, he swipes through /u/caleb-beard-diary and gets a sense of all the work his face has done.  It gives him a little encouragement.  His friends sometimes leave nice comments in there too.  Caleb now realizes that his beard is worth growing again.

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Image via Sean Salmon on Flickr

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0224: /morning-selfie

For those times when you are not looking your best

The selfie culture can feel oppressive sometimes.  Each pic needs to look good. The right pose, the right face, the right angle.  Take a dozen, choose the best, and delete the rest.  It can feel like work.

But over at localweb.is/morning-selfie you will find people reject that obligation.  Wake up, take a selfie, and post it.  Sure your hair is a mess and your skin is breaking out, but this is who you are at 7 am.  It’s a welcoming place as the slash is full of other people doing the same thing. 

Because the slash is based around a certain period of the day, its most active in the mornings, which means that it’s often near the top of localweb.is from 7am to 10am.  Checking the slash first thing in the morning is a great reminder that “yeah, I’m a real person and we are all real people”.

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Image via Sophia Louise on flickr.

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0223: /v/selfie

You probably think this post is about you.

One of the tenants of the local web is an identity system that allows you to be whoever you are at that moment.  This can free you up from having to be a ‘brand’ all the time and all the management that goes with that.

But a superseding tenant is that the local web is what you make of it.  If you want to post selfies there and vote up or down other peoples selfies, you can do that.  

At localweb.is/v/selfie you can post a photo of yourself and others in the area can vote it up or down.  The /v/ in the URL changes the slash from one with just posting to one with posting and voting.  It’s sort of like a combination of Instagram, Reddit, but restricted to your local surroundings.  Who has the prettiest selfie in your town, in your school, or at the football game you are at right now.  Wouldn’t you like to know?

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Image via Patrick Nygren on Flicker

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0222: /findhunter

How do you find your cat when everyone is looking at their phones?

So you lost your cat.  The first thing you do is put up flyers right?  Sure.  But that takes time to get them made, printed, and posted, and if you have ever watched any crime dramas you will know that the first 48 hours are the most important.

Instead printing up flyers first, try making a slash on the local web.  If you know that Hunter isn’t in the house, create a slash by going to localweb.is/findhunter and post a picture and his info.  Then go out and flyer but be sure to include the local web URL as well.  This way people can post any updates or tips for everyone to see.  A little transparency and coordinated action will go along way in tracking down a lost pet.

The best part is that all this action in the /findhunter slash will cause it to rise to the top of localweb.is, which is the front page of the local web.  So now all those within 1km see this slash and can participate.  These are people you likely wouldn’t have reached with a few flyers, but now they have their eyes open.

The mechanics of the local web allow a post to spread beyond its geographic boundaries if it gets attention.  So if Hunter finds his way into a different neighborhood or even town, you can still be notified of any activity in the /findhunter slash.  

Flyers are helpful, but it’s time to use 21st century tools to our local problems.

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Image via nixerkg on flicker

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0221: /cliffview.construction

Opening the lines of communication

So a new subdivision of 50 units is being built near my home.  It’s a massive project and my former dead-end street is being extended and connected to another street.  This involved paving, plumbing, and everything else involved with building roads and houses.

The excavators, cements trucks, and other massive machines are everywhere, and the two routes to my house are often blocked off.  Well, they always leave one open while they work on the other.  Problem is, I never which one is open on which day.  I also didn’t know that they would cut my water for a day and a half while they put in more street sewers.  Communication with the locals is not something this construction company is particularly good at.

So I went to their management trailer and suggested they post any updates at localweb.is/cliffview.construction.  They agreed and communication has been a lot better.  Not because they didn’t want to communicate, but because it was cumbersome for them to do so before.  But with the local web, think of it like a local twitter, they post an update that one of the streets will be blocked for the day and I can check that on my phone before I head out in the morning.

Because the local web is hyper local, even those residents who are not following /cliffview.construction can still get notified because that slash is very popular within the 1km around the construction site, so it’s constantly at the top of localweb.is which is a front page for the local web.  If you use the local web, and why wouldn’t you, then you will be informed about whats going on.  All without a construction working having to knock on your door.

Infact, they even put the /cliffview.construction  URL on their detour signs.  Thanks guys!

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Image via Bengt Nyman on Flickr

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0220: /halloween.houses

Find the best action on Halloween

For kids, October 31st is all about the candy.  But parents know that such things are just a commodity and also 50% at the drug store the next day.  The real fun in Halloween lies with the homeowners and others who go all-out with their decorations.  They turn a simple “trick or treat” into an experience and a memory.

Not everyone can do this, and most people don’t, but in every neighborhood there are some people who just want to put on a show.  But how do you find them?  Often the decorations don’t go up until the day of Halloween, and who wants to cruise the neighborhood looking for the best spots?

That’s why residents turn to localweb.is/halloween.houses to crowd source the location of the best houses.  As people are trick-or-treating, they post pictures and locations of the top spots.  Before you head out just check /halloween.houses to plan your route.  Even if you can’t make it to all of them, you can still browse /halloween.houses the next day to see what you missed.

All the activity on Oct 31st shoots /halloween.houses to the top of the front page at localweb.is.  It’s a lot of exposure for the homeowners who are often looking to outdo each other.  Sure you could post a photo your awesome decorations to Facebook or Pinterest and get a few likes, but when you post it to the local web, you will get more than likes.  You will get a bunch of little kids to terrify.  Isn’t that what Halloween is all about?

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0219: /parenting

Help from those who can actually help

Parenting is hard.  The only training we receive is from watching our own parents, which isn’t always the best advice.  Parenting books and websites can only offer general help because every parents’ situation is different and unique.

So where does a parent turn for help?  The best place is often to other parents.  You can find them online for sure, but the ones who are in the best position to help are around you.  You can find those on the local web.

Stressed out parents can post their comments and questions to localweb.is/parenting and other parents in the area can respond.  These are people who live in the area, who know the schools, teachers, and other resources available.  These are people you can get coffee with.

There are other ways to meet local parents, such as school events, but these face to face interactions can make a parent self-conscious of their situation.  On the local web you have a degree of anonymity and privacy, so you can talk about problems you are having with your child without feeling like you are getting a bad reputation in the community.  You don’t have to be anonymous and can choose to use your real identity or even a pseudonym if you want to build a reputation in the /parenting community.

Every parent knows how hard it can be so there is a lot of empathy and compassion to be found once you get beyond the forced smiles of a PTA meeting.  The local web can help tap this local empathy. 

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Image via Camp ASCCA via flickr