Hyper-local News Been Dead
The interesting and relevant stories happen out there, not in here
posted on December 19, 2013
The most prominent figure in the hyper-local news business, Patch.com, is rumored to be shutting it’s doors after a number of resurgent efforts to continue funding the endeavor. The news comes after CEO Tim Armstrong (who is still reluctantly trying to keep Patch alive) has poured an estimated $300 million of AOL’s piggy bank into the project. Yesterday, comments were said regarding the viability of hyper-local as a business from a number of media news outlets on social media that made me give thought to the idea of hyper-local and what it means today.
This was a good opportunity for me to join in on the conversation since I've held the view that hyper-local was somehow counter-intuitive to the nature of social behavior on the web. So naturally I voiced my opinion in response about Patch written by @jason:
Minutes later, notable tech and stock market persona Howard Lindzon added:
Although Howard’s comment was a both sarcastic and funny, I agreed with him on the principle that events that happen near me are of little interest to anyone and rarely has any effect on the larger world. Furthermore, what I observe in my environment is all that I really care to consume about the happenings within my local environment. And here is where I feel the idea of hyper-local hits a wall.
The things that happen in your neighborhood don’t change America. So I say, unless it makes a difference to more than just a few people, then it doesn't warrant (my) attention. Unfortunately, local news may appeal to a small number of people in your neighborhood, but as any sociologist will say, that number of people is “insignificant” to the larger trend.
Local news has very little inter-personal symmetry. Inter-personal symmetry is the likelihood that two people, with knowledge of a common topic, will discuss that topic. A good example of this is celebrity gossip. When people interact socially, people discuss topics that are relevant, entertaining, etc. For a long time I didn’t quite understand the value of gossip, but I’ve come to realize that it helps people learn about others and reflect on their own moral compass.
Here is an example of a how global relevance makes a difference using celebrities as an example. Since celebrities appear in popular media like songs and movies, their news is pushed to global media channels like tabloids, television, etc. This allows you to find coverage of them and their projects all over the world. Interestingly, the happenings of one celebrity is perceived by many, and because of this, anyone can easily debate or relate what a celebrity does to your own life — thus making the daily musings of a celebrity somewhat relevant. On the other hand, local events are likely to resonate only with people that are in or live in a particular area (and are no celebrities to keep people gossiping from day to day). Local relationships had more relevance in the days prior to the internet, but the web has changed that.
As opposed to local news, the top news stories, regardless of where they are based, is prominent because it has implications for people despite their location in the real world.
Publishers push content to the web. That’s their way of making content available; anywhere, always. And since every internet-enabled device is essentially a node on the network, it makes sense that news gets global exposure. Hyper-local goes against everything the internet is about; it’s relevance is here which means it’s relevance typically remains right here, it has no relevance over there. Think about how inefficient hyper-local businesses are. instead of creating the content and pushing it once to the web, a hyper-local business requires you to tirelessly make content that’s only relevant to a few people and exhaust yourself to find a stories that resonate within that micro-market. Then repeat that effort for every micro-market you have to service. That’s so DEAD.
That’s not to say someone can’t figure out that problem. In fact, i hope someone would find a way to make it work. But from my vantage point, I won’t advise undertaking a hyper-local news business until I can figure out how all the little things that happen locally are relevant to the masses.
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