HometownGeorgetown.com

I love the internet! (Can you tell?) I love that we can now read papers from the other side of the country and, for that matter, from the other side of the world. This evening, I happened upon an article from Portland, Oregon about a new kind of social networking site that’s in a trial phase there. Why do we care? Because the developers are working on a site for Georgetown, Texas, as well.

The site is called Bright Neighbor, and the article bills it as My Space for grown-ups. Basically, it’s an online neighborhood that consists of your real-life neighbors. The internet is a great way to meet people who share your interests, but it can be frustrating sometimes to form friendships with people you never get to meet face-to-face. Bright Neighbor offers an exciting alternative. Because it’s localized, the people who join are people you could actually meet for lunch if you so chose. People post on the site their interests, classes they’d like to take or that they might be willing to teach, and even items they’d be willing to loan to people whom they trust.

I think this has wonderful potential for making Georgetown even friendlier than we already do. On the Bright Neighbor home page, there’s a box where people can request rides or offer rides. Isn’t that nice? Say you’re going to a concert in Austin. Why not share a ride with other Georgetown folks?

I’m not sure who it is in Georgetown who’s started this, but I’m excited about the possibilities. Sign me up!