In the beginning, there were local blogs ...

Yesterday I independently received two emails from two local bloggers, asking me to set up reciprocal links to their sites. The first was Tish Dish (Newton), the second, Swellesley (Wellesley). Like Borderline, both of these blogs are run by real local people interested in talking about their respective communities in some way.

The fact that I received two such emails on the same day tells me that this local blogging phenomenon is starting to reach a critical mass. There are more people doing it, and we're starting to connect with each other. And as this item from Watertown suggests, we're starting to make a difference, too. I have a feeling five or ten years from now, people will look at this time as a Web awakening for local communities, and a creation of a connectedness that is not present in local corporate-owned media entities.

Of course, an important part of this phenomenon is aggregator sites/forums like Universal Hub as well as better blog search engines, especially Google. I also hear similar things are happening in Washington D.C. and other metropolitan areas.