Apply HN: Placewire

Please see my reply to bobbylox for the operational differentiators I see between Placewire and other hyperlocal models.

I'd argue that despite feeling apathetic about the individuals in your community, one could be motivated use Placewire. Because person-to-person connections/follower counts are not a core part of the product (today), there's a lesser ambient sense of social haves and have nots. I also think an ambivalent person could use Placewire for both practical reasons (I learned that there's a new Cambodian restaurant opening on Smith Street), or because you enjoy being a person who has information. Think about Matt Drudge, a news hound and apparently somewhat of a hermit.

Instagram with a hashtag is fine if you 1. aren't bothered by sending the majority of your followers content that is irrelevant to them, and 2. believe that non-followers will discover your content by surfing your chosen hashtag. Algorithmic feed could change some of this - we'll see!

1) Better unit economics via user-generated content creation. I'm not paying per-market salaries like Patch (though I'm not reaping the benefits of labor of a dedicated professional, either).

2) A native ad product (sponsored photo/link) which local businesses understand, because they're already creating the content for existing social media.

3) A content model based on a form of media which people enjoy both consuming and creating, rather than zoning board recaps and the crime blotter. I'm not denigrating either of those - I enjoy both - but like a lot journalism they are costly to produce relative to their travel.

btw, what were these hyperlocal businesses that failed in the past? [just not familiar with them that's all]