Local goes global via a blogger near you
It seems everyone’s doing it: baring their soul and their suburb to the world via weblogs, the free medium that puts global publishing within anyone’s reach.
A growing trend is the ‘hyperlocal’ blog which focuses on the blogger’s home suburb. These blogs operate on different levels, acting not only as a personal diary of words and pictures but also as a record of history and a node for locals to network with each other and for anyone in the world who hits on the site through a search engine.
I started the Kings Cross Times blog in 2004 as an online local newspaper. The ability of readers to comment adds a ‘talkback’ mode to blogs and my free speech policy lead to some pretty heated posts – not surprising for a locale as diverse as the Cross. And thanks to the kind people who host my blog you can still access and read all of it with a few clicks of the mouse, free of charge.
The blog has refocused over time towards drugs and prohibition, a perennial Cross issue which also generates some heat. Not only does my blog becomee an online diary but the many links I have embedded in the text make it easy to go back and find websites and news stories of interest, so the blog acts as an ever-growing reference library. It’s also a great way to keep and display my photography.
But the best thing about it is the contacts I have made, some of whom are featured on this page. Recent comments on the blog have put me in touch with Barry Ward, one of the journalists who investigated the murder of Juanita Neilsen, and Paul Baker, a quadriplegic totally dependent on care who is about to make history by being locked up in Long Bay Gaol after being convicted of manufacturing ecstasy. Paul says he never made a cent from it and was only helping out some web-challenged ‘friends’ by sourcing materials they needed online. When arrested, the ‘friends’ blamed it all on him, he says.
Visiting and commenting on blogs is also a good way to promote your own website or blog by putting links in your comments. But it’s bad netiquette to post facile comments just to promote your website, and the blogger will usually delete your comment.
Some local bloggers
I contacted the local bloggers I know about. Some were happy to be quoted and photographed and others wanted to remain anonymous – another intriguing benefit of blogging and commenting.
Darlinghurst Nights
Matt and Polly Levinson create the Darlinghurst Nights blog which was named after a song by the Go-Betweens about living in the area in the 1980s. The recent birth of their daughter means they now spend a lot more time near home, so they decided to blog what they see.
“Out walking the streets we notice things we’d normally rush past on our way somewhere else: stencil art, odd messages, guerrilla gardens in laneways, strange planters put in by the council, unusual shops, interesting sides of apartment living,” said Matt.
A recent post compared the price of hot cross buns in local patisseries and comments on another showed polarised views on the Wicked Weasel micro-swimsuit shop. Matt is 37 and is a Communications Officer for the CSIRO. He also publishes Cyclic Defrost, a music magazine and blog, with help from the Australia Council.
Life in Chippendale
Steven Noble started blogging because he “couldn’t help himself”.
“When I have an opinion, I want to get on my high horse and share it. I’m a little obsessed about neighbourhoods, so it was natural that I’d make my own suburb, Chippendale, the focus of my blog. That said, I write about just about everything when the mood takes me. Over the years, Life In Chippendale has become a bit of a calling card for me. It breaks down barriers, and gives my neighbours an excuse to strike up a conversation with me down the park or the pub. Some neighbours have even started posting to the blog, including a few whom I’ve never actually met in the flesh.”
Recent posts lament a wall of significant graffiti art that’s been whitewashed, picture Chippendale’s “random pet goat” tethered to a lightpole and cover local politics and resident concerns.
Xssat
Woolloomooloo photographer and web designer Xiaohan Shen shoots street fashion – just people she sees on the street with something to their outfit, from quirky to trendy to casual to the “fashion-forward”.
The blog is based on successful overseas street fashion blogs like The Sartorialist and Facehunter.
“xssat is not about high fashion, it’s not about designer brands, it’s about taking inspiration from the street and translating the looks with what’s already in your own wardrobe,” said Xiaohan.
Recent posts picture Sydney’s bowtie trend and its ongoing love of wearing black.
Nosey in Newtown
Nosey wanted to remain anonymous for this feature. The blog is another which documents the colourful and quirky stuff on the streets. Newtown is partly controlled by Marrickville Council, which is much more relaxed about letting residents decorate their public space than is the City, so there is a lot to blog about.
Recent posts ran a cat theme including pictures of signs reading “Beware – Lion on premises” and “Please do not bang on window – the cat is real!! Thank You.”
Pyrmont Village blog
Pyrmont resident Don Anderson has put together a very professional and comprehensive site focusing on the business side of Pyrmont with profiles of local business owners and different sections listing and describing restaurants, art galleries etc along with sections on apartment life and local sustainability projects.
Fitzroyalty
A literate and colourful Melbourne blog that documents life in Fitzroy. Recent posts examine heteronormal sexuality and the single life, local restaurants and some graffiti on which someone has over-written: “Do this at home until you get good”. It’s interesting to contrast the feel and content of this blog with the local Sydney blogs.
Check them out
Barry Ward’s blog: wwwjuanitanielsencom.blogspot.com
Darlinghurst Nights: darlinghurstnights.com
Life in Chippendale: life-in-chippendale.blogspot.com
Xssat: xssat.wordpress.com
Nosey in Newtown: www.noseyinnewtown.com
Pyrmont Village News: pyrmontvillage.com.au
Check out the colour of Melbourne life via the Fitzroyalty blog: indolentdandy.net/fitzroyalty
The author’s Kings Cross blog: kingscrosstimes.blogspot.com
Start your own blog:
Google “Start a blog” and a host of potential hosts will appear. Go on, it’s easy!
