Last week real estate blogging network ActiveRain rolled out a hyperlocal news and information site called Localism.com - the "world's most complete neighborpedia" and world's largest search box (check it out). There goal is to create a compelling source for local news and information - everything from restaurant reviews to news events to neighborhood photos and videos. Unfortunately since realtors are doing most of the writing, the site is heavy on real estate related stories.
John Cook's Venture Blog reports that ActiveRain will eventually open up the platform to everyone but that they're relying heavily on their army of 90,000 real estate professionals. Makes sense in the short term as realtors have the most to gain from supporting hyperlocal online communities.
Bellevue-based ActiveRain has already proven that it can build a network of niche-oriented bloggers, with the more than 90,000 real estate professionals on the platform attracting 1.1 million uniques and 6.9 million page views last month.
