Comments on: Norg Media Wants To Community Enable News

By: Michael Tippett

Michael Tippett — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 01:21:50 +0000

Nice to see some CJ efforts in Aussie. Good luck to Bronwen and co. Perhaps a NowPublic partnership is a possibility in the future.

Best,

Michael Tippett, NowPublic.com

By: Nicholas Gee

Nicholas Gee — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 18:46:30 +0000

The Norg service sounds promising, and Australia is a good test market. One recommend: to hook the younger audience (18-26), and get them interested in local news (and commenting about it), you should fold-in a modern “missed connection” service… something like JackSawJane.com would be perfect, because it’s private & interactive, like Norg. Here’s a quick Fox News clip about it in case you haven’t heard of it yet down under. Cheers.

http://www.myfo...mp;pageId=3.2.1

By: Bronwen Clune

Bronwen Clune — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 04:54:14 +0000

Henry – good point and it is something we are trying to change. Original content is our end goal, but there is value in people linking to and discussing stories that interest them and the community. In Australia at least, most mainstream media sites do not allow comments on all stories, so we allow that discussion to take place.
Overall, we have a number of original stories come through on a daily basis on our most-established site Perth.Norg.com.au
It’s early days for the other sites, but I think those changes will come.

By: KillerStartups.com - Norg.com.au - People Powered News from Australia

KillerStartups.com - Norg.com.au - People Powered News from Australia — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 03:53:15 +0000

Norg.com.au – People Powered News from Australia…

I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog …

By: Henry Scott

Henry Scott — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 23:22:39 +0000

Once again, a “cit j” site most of whose content has been lifted from the mainstream media. What is the attraction in a site where unknown people randomly post stories I could find (earlier and in a more organized form) on NYTimes.com or Yahoo with their odd comments appended?

By: David Mackey

David Mackey — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 23:46:07 +0000

Not a bad idea, will take some marketing to make successful.

By: PauloALmedia

PauloALmedia — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:35:04 +0000

Community is the main issue; the technology behind the site should be quite straight forward. It is necessary that user’s feel compelled to submit their stories. They must feel part of something that “connects” them together. Digg.com started with tech news stories because there was already a mature community around this topic in the web. But still the main question is:

- Why would a user submit a story to an unknown site?
- What is the site offering that can compel first users to submit a first, second, third…story?

As for the internationalization plans; I know that if you are talking to investors, you must mention that “internationalization” strategy or idea – it makes it more interesting for them to invest. But my suggestion is: don’t spend one dollar abroad before you are sure that it works in Australia.

Learn also the story of Craigslit list; it’s a truly local site with 100% users submitted content. And bear in mind that its took them some months to achieve any sound visibility. So be patient and work on the basics.

As for this site been mentioned here in TechCrunch; I wonder why you have made it here. But you are on the right direction on the “buzz” marketing aspects. It would be good to try to make it other leading blogs as the time goes by….

…enjoy the ride ….and good luck..

By: Arnold

Arnold — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:24:15 +0000

It seems like everyone no matter what industry they are in wants a web community nowadays. They probably would have been able to launch the site faster if they did it with Drupal.

By: skeptical dude

skeptical dude — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:34:37 +0000

broken links, jacked up css in fire, nothing compelling…. looks like a real winner.

By the way, you’ve got so many ads and shizzle running it locks up my browser.

By: Shafqat

Shafqat — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:56:07 +0000

Interesting. I guess it’s a “citizen journalism Digg-like site with local emphasis.” It can be successful if it tries to address niche markets (Australian cities seems like a good target) — I wouldn’t even try and combine it with mainstream news. In terms of growth, I don’t really think it can be deployed in any location though — the niche community needs to be nurtured and cultivated, and its difficult to do that remotely. A Perth based company targetting Australian cities just makes sense. Good luck!

By: Sipboy

Sipboy — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:41:32 +0000

I really like this idea because it can generate interest in topics the mainstream media may overlook or choose not to pursue. I started my blog to create this type of interest on a community level with a social networking twist. I would love to see funding from the social networking arena to be put into this effort to increase community awareness.

http://www.myciti.us

By: Myles Eftos

Myles Eftos — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:31:00 +0000

Dave – Yeah, not so much – it’s not Drupal. The tech behind the site isn’t new – was is innovative is what is what it does.

By: HoundWire.com

HoundWire.com — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:56:00 +0000

Working on something very similar but we do the US and we cover ever square inch of the 50 states. Think Digg + Local in the left column and the ability to filter what national news you see (coming this week)

http://houndwire.com

By: Bronwen

Bronwen — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:56:37 +0000

Damen – thought I’d mention how our voting works. All stories can be voted up or down by the community, but after 24 hours that voting is halved.
Norg users start off on the site as a cadet with 1 vote and can progress to a senior journalist with 3 votes. They get a more senior ranking as they post stories and comments that receive votes.

Fake Steve Balmer – don’t tell me that’s all I’ve had to tell people all this time!

By: dave

dave — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:46:56 +0000

uh, this appears to be a drupal installation running a few of the configurable voting mods with a change to display in the template system. what exactly is it you’re pointing out as ‘unique’ or interesting again?

By: Nat

Nat — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:31:06 +0000

It similar to Digg,hmm, i don’t see the uniqueness of the idea,maybe i’m blind but i would rather stick to Digg.

Nat
http://www.workersinc.com

By: Duncan Riley

Duncan Riley — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:09:16 +0000

Fake Steve Ballmer
what I meant is that it’s not easily comparable. Sure, it’s local news, but its the mash of various concepts that makes it unique

By: Steve Ballmer

Steve Ballmer — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:00:51 +0000

“a service that’s hard to pigeon hole.”
uh, isn’t that called local news?

http://fakestev...er.blogspot.com

By: damon

damon — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:54:53 +0000

not “digg” style??? cause the votes are “weighted”? wtf, digg/reddit all these sites have a weighting system that gives more weight to new votes.

By: BRadC

BRadC — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:43:57 +0000

Great, just what the Aussies need. More inward looking news.

By: Tim Cinel

Tim Cinel — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:23:51 +0000

Fantastic, I love the idea and I love that it’s Australian!

By: US Web Hosting

US Web Hosting — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:44:53 +0000

What I like most, it feeds specific niche and expanding vertically.

By: Lowell Cremorne

Lowell Cremorne — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:16:26 +0000

Anything that increases Aussie news content is welcome IMO

By: Stefano Buliani

Stefano Buliani — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:51:42 +0000

Sounds like a really cool idea. I’m a big fan of blogs and generally random-person-generated content/news.
This is going to give something to think about to all local newspapers publishers littering the streets of London.

I wonder though if a website can ever reach the credibility and reputation a paper like The Economist has.

By: Alexis Brion

Alexis Brion — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:48:13 +0000

If your are interested in usability issues you can read at my blog an article about the NORG interface:
http://www.desi...g-system-works/