Inhabitat's 2010 New Year's Resolutions

It's obviously an understatement to say that internet is changing both the publishing industry and the way that people consume media.  We've all read the stories about newspapers and print magazines bashing blogs while they quickly rush to start their own and try to overhaul their advertising models. The story that is perhaps getting less attention, however, is how even the blog model of 2004, 2005, 2006 is rapidly shifting as social networking takes a firm root in online culture.  Back when I started Inhabitat.com in 2005 it was novel enough just to publish a blog about sustainable design - I didn't need to do anything fancier - as I was one of the very few voices on the web talking about this stuff.  My main goal was just to get the word out about sustainable design, build awareness, and start conversations.  Of course we always had some element of "conversation" going in the comment section of our website - but aside from the comment section - traditional blog publishing is really not that interactive, and not that different from magazine publishing in its basic approach: I write a story, I publish it, you interact with it, and if you have feedback, you let me know in the comments.  This model is slightly more "conversational" than a magazine perhaps, but still a very one-sided conversation.

Now with the advent of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Reddit, I think many publishers are realizing that there is so much more we can do with our online communities.  Certainly at Inhabitat we're anxious to build communities that go beyond screens and keypads into real physical space. We know that the old adage 'Think globally, act locally' is a apt description of the dynamic power of local community, and we want to get into the business of building locally-based communities of people who are passionate about socially-responsible, good design.  Watch our video to find out more about our New Year's resolution for 2010 and how we plan to connect the global and the local through the power of the social web.