AroundMe.net - Neighborhood Social Networking Site

Social networking sites have exploded on the internet today, ranging from many different topical overviews on each one. Therefore, it seems fitting that AroundMe has now been launched, which focuses on your literal neighborhood as your social network. All you have to do is define the radius of interest around your center of location to start building your network. The site is broken up into five categories: Happenings, Neighborhood, Reviews, Classifieds and Deals. Happenings shows what’s going on in your area, whether it’s a cultural activity or something for the kids while the Neighborhood section allows you to connect and form groups with those who are actually living in your surrounding area. Neighbors can write Reviews about local businesses and these same shops can upload coupons to offer to their clientele in the Deals tab of AroundMe. Thus, this site truly encourages communication exchange between local merchants and those citizens who directly affect them, benefiting from one another.

“Your neighborhood is your real network with real people. Afterall, in the real world we all deal with real people, shops, restaurants and local organizations. We all can use the knowledge from others who've "been there done that". By being connected, one can easily reach out to others involved in similar interests as you or tap into the vast knowledge that's already available in your neighborhood.”

If you’re looking to connect with local businesses and neighbors, this is the perfect social networking site for you. And if many participate, local merchants surely have a lot to gain in offering discounts and directly connecting with their clientele. However, it’s hard to determine the success rate of AroundMe since many people like to stay anonymous within their neighborhoods. And the website has quite a few typos that should have been edited before launching.

How many people are truly interested in networking with their physical neighboring community? Can pictures be included to profiles? What else can AroundMe add to attract users?