LocalBlox Explores Uncharted Territory... Your Own Backyard!
Ned Ludd and the 1800s band of "luddites" waged war against the fragmenting force of industrialization. Today's technology haters repeat the familiar refrain. Until recently, their claim was not without merit. Then along came online community, connecting friends-of-friends, distant relatives as well as perfect strangers.So, is there a next big thing? The web's final frontier just might be your own personal garden. Enter LocalBlox, a burgeoning new site meant to connect you using the people in your neighborhood � those folks you pass each day on your way to the area park or caf�.LocalBlox is the brainchild of Sabira Arefin, who envisioned a virtual space where neighbors could connect and share information regarding their own, real-world communities. "I thought it will be nice to experience a Facebook for neighbors," says Arefin, "You can share info on the latest happenings, or maybe ping them and say hello. Who has enough time to knock on doors these days?"LocalBlox seeks to construct a bridge between individuals along with their communities with listings for events, news feeds, an image album available to all along with a community wall for informal discussion and recommendations. The Localblox ambassador program invites residents who are obsessed with their neighborhood to get volunteers and guide their neighbors within their search to connect. In the very near future, LocalBlox intends to hire neighborhood managers in over 40,000 communities across the United States.Engaging the interest and commitment of both residents and local merchants is often a fundamental a part of Arefin's vision. In an effort to help local businesses and expand this first ever hybrid of the virtual-natural community, LocalBlox is offering free advertising to smaller businesses to get a little while. "LocalBlox was founded about the premise that physical communities would be the most natural and organic," says Arefin. "What is a more natural approach to interact than shopping in your own neighborhood? Bringing the main focus to the community may help bolster local economies and renew a sense of belonging."Oxford Anthropologist Robin Dunbar's famous study regarding relationships and ideal community size points too there is often a limit towards the number of people with whom we can forge a meaningful bond. What has become referred to as "Dunbar's number" (roughly 150 personal connections) has been explained by evolutionary psychologists being a product individuals long history being a species � some 40 million years � spent wandering the landscape in small, hunter-gatherer tribes. Facebook friends numbering in the 250+ range and 10,000 a lot of civilization notwithstanding, our biological roots crave real world intimacy and Abcya 300 interconnectedness with people that share our physical space.And what about present day luddites � that remaining fraction of an percent from the industrialized world who don't cross the digital divide as being a matter of conscience? Will they ever acknowledge that the technological arc beginning using the industrial revolution comes full circle, from dehumanizing monster to community builder?Who knows? And who cares! They'll never read this.