EveryBlock is a free mobile app and online service that features information about what's happening on a specific block, in a specific neighborhood or in a specific community. Designed to enhance neighborhood life, the kinds of information users can view and share on EveryBlock range from news feeds from local government entities and schools and messages from businesses and civic groups about events happening in their neighborhoods, to business license, restaurant inspection, building permit and crime data. In addition, EveryBlock allows users to post comments and respond to one another. Users can also pull select EveryBlock data dynamically into their own websites through the use of custom embeddable widgets.
The service was originally operated as a website in 2007 and was eventually sold then closed down. A reinvented and vastly expanded version of EveryBlock was relaunched by Comcast Local Media in five cities in the U.S. – Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston and Philadelphia -- in 2014 as a mobile app, along with a new online platform. Other cities will be added in 2015. The sites enjoy thousands of visits daily and an open rate of 52 percent on daily digest emails sent to EveryBlock subscribers.
Our goal was to revive and expand EveryBlock.com by adding new content partners, support for open conversation and increased syndication and delivery options.
So many people loved and used EveryBlock every day to stay connected with their neighborhood and were devastated when it was closed down. Our goal, upon reviving EveryBlock was to make it even better -- easier to use, device independent, with many more options (such as following more than one place) and more ways to leverage the expanded content.
The team determined that we would:
1. Add more content.
* More open data
* More web feeds, including Facebook Pages
* More events
* Increased work with open data platforms that support open data portals
* More Discovery of the wide variety of local content
2. Allow connections to third-party local applications such as ChicagoWorksForYou's Open311 data visualizations.
3. Provide support for open conversation.
* Increased visibility of personal moderation features like the MUTE button so that individuals have power to exclude those with whom they disagree
* New personal moderation capabilities and tools coming
* Increased investment in human moderation in place
4. Increase syndication and delivery option.
* Easy access to content for use on your own site – Feed Network
* Open platform approach for all skill levels from bloggers to developers
* APIs for developers to leverage the content and technology for their own purposes
* Android App to iOS application
5. Provide Wordpress connection.
* While EB is not on WordPress, we want to make it easy for people and groups with WP sites to bring the local info and capabilities into their own sites and environments
* Add content and software to WordPress Plug-in Repository, beginning with integration with Comcast's own Wordpress sites
* Create configurable EveryBlock pages which any website can brand and to which any website can connect for their own visitors
6. Work closely with the internal teams in each market and their community partners to assist in the launch and promotion of EveryBlock.
