AS TOLD BY JOHN MYERS, FOUNDER & EDITOR, NORTHERNLIBERTIES.ORG:While newspapers have been busy cutting staff and fumbling with embracing the Internet NorthernLiberties.org has morphed into a Wikipediaesque outlet for community news, gossip, rants & raves that traditional media are not covering effectively.
I have a love / hate relationship with NorthernLiberties.org. The site attracts its fair share of trolls and, because of its low-tech message board which allows folks to post anonymously, it can bring out the worst in people. However, the site’s simplicity is part of why it is successful. And, in the end, the positive aspects of the site outweigh the negatives. NorthernLiberties.org has helped police catch armed robbers, reported news of violent sexual assaults, and has served as a home to many great debates which reflect the online community’s tremendous diversity.
When I started NorthernLiberties.org in 2001, the page listed a handful of links to local artists & businesses. As Northern Liberties attracted more businesses & residents in the years that followed the site grew to reflect the neighborhood. The NL message board was inspired by the bulletin board at the Palm Tree Market. Since then, the message board has grown like a colorful weed and has become the reason to visit NorthernLiberties.org. For better or worse, I now present a sampling of the Northern Liberties Message Board’s greatest hits:
· Postal Mail Delivery Black Hole
· Want your history with…a side of T&A?
· Huge Accident on 2nd Street
· 10 Things I’d like to see in NL
· SHOULD RITA’S ‘ITALIAN’ WATER ICE COME TO NORTHERN LIBERTIES? see also WELCOME RITAS
· Earthlink Wireless in the hood
· Water Main Break
· 25 Story Building Proposed for 2nd and Girard
· Kids in the Park
· Farewell to The Pond
· Sugarhouse Casino
· Robbery Yesterday
· The Egging

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 12:45 pm.