July 2009
1 post
About Brum - Words, Pictures And Sounds From The... →
A blog about Birmingham that ham as a whole that started in 2007 and has popped back on my radar with the first in a series of podcasts. With the city-wide focus it’s not “ultra local” but does have a good trial-and-error heritage to it. Worth keeping tabs on.
June 2009
24 posts
My Jewellery Quarter →
Tumblr blog for ther Jewellery Quarter, an area with a mix of light industry, commercial and residential. Complements the @myjq Twitter only with more pics and videos.
Nice example of using very a couple of very simple tools to point to news and interesting things about an area.
(Oh, and this one is not by Jon Bounds!)
Be Vocal →
“A site about social media for social good in Birmingham and using the internet to turn public data into something useful.” New blog from Nick Booth aka Podnosh. Looks to be more a resource for local blogs than a local blog in itself. One to watch.
Acocks Green Focus Group →
And another Acocks Green blog. They come in threes it seems. This one is for “a Conservation and Re-Design Group” and whoever is running this has really gotten their teeth into it. It ticks pretty much all the boxes. Good conversational style, opinionated but welcoming other opinions, links to sources for further reading, and above all has a tangible sense of the place about it....
I am AG →
Another Acock’s Green blog, this one is independent and run by Nicola Toms. A slightly faltering start and I suspect Nicola is finding her feet and voice. Maybe looking at her own experience of the area and detailing some of the minutiae might help. Paint a picture of the page with words, that sort of thing.
Acocks Green Neighbourhood Forum →
New blog set up at one of Nick’s social media surgeries run by Ged Hughes for the local neighbourhood forum. Early days but the more formal style is evident and understandable for a blog that has to be the voice of a team of people and represent / talk to a diverse community. I think the key here is to present the facts in a neutral way and encourage discussion and debate in the comments.
Über Brum →
A “street style” blog containing photos of stylish people taken in the street. It claims to be Birmingham’s first but Spaghetti Junction Style has been around for a while. Still, the concept is interesting from our perspective. While it’s a superficial, borderline elitist thing (“The aim is to find the beautiful people of Brum” makes me want to hurl) it is,...
Birmingham Live! →
This has reviews and photos from music gigs in Birminghamand I’m really including because it’s just on that annoying cusp of how I’m defining “local blogs” for this blog. Yes, it’s about a specific place and yes, it’s by and for a tangible community within that space but it’s quite distinct from a blog about a neighbourhood. But if I don’t...
It's Grim Up North Brum →
Another of Jon Bounds’ Brum Tumblrs in the same vein as The Kings Heathen and welovemoseley. Suffers because most people in what passes for the Birmingham blogging scene come from South Birmingham and the two might as well be different countries. But it’s there and if someone wanted to develop it I’m sure Jon would be interested.
Moseley Exchange →
Blog for a coworking space in Moseley which opens next month. Plans to cover the space and relevant stuff from the surrounding area.
Birmingham, B29 →
A blog about the B29 postcode district which mainly covers Selly Oak, Selly Park and Weoley Castle, area synonymous with Birmingham Uni students despite normal people living there too. More of the recent posts are by Charlie Pinder with Michael Grimes having just joined. It was started by James Thornett who seems to have taken a bit of back seat, which is fine. That’s what a group blog is...
brumblr →
A Tumblr for Birmingham run by Jon Bounds with many contributors. Conceptual parent of We Love Moseley and The Kings Heathen.
Castle Bromwich Community Website - Blog →
First time I’ve seen this. Activity from Feb to March this year then nothing. Content generally long pieces, sometimes reposted from elsewhere. Could probably do with an intervention as not much needed to get it on track (assuming the will is there).
Eye on Moseley →
Humourous funny blog written with a sense of humour about Moseley. They say laughter can bring a community together. I wonder…
My Jewellery Quarter (MyJQ) on Twitter →
It’s a blog about the Jewellery Quarter. Yes, it’s on Twitter but it does everything a blog need to. Links to news, a bit of commentary, regularly updated. All in 140 characters or less.
(Sorry, including the phrase “all in 140 characters or less” is mandatory when writing about someone using Twitter for something other than that which Twitter is usually used for and I...
Deirdre Alden's Blog →
Alden is the Conservative candiate for the Edgbaston constituency and uses her blog as part of this campaign. What this means is when you filter out the political grandstanding (and there’s a lot) you get a pretty comprehensive news service for Bartley Green, Edgbaston, Harborne and Quinton. And a whole lot of cheezy photos.
Spaghetti Gazetti →
Edited by Pete Millington and covering pretty much everything. I have a problem with this site. When I get sent to it (usually by Birmingham: It’s Not Shit) I find it fantastic. Then I scroll down and get information overload. Too much stuff and not enough focus.
But that’s me. At the very least this is a great clearing house for news about the city, particularly stuff that might...
The Stirrer - NEWS THAT MATTERS, CAMPAIGNS THAT... →
Not my favourite site and I and find the forum to be really annoying, but it works and has done for a long time. Run by Adrian Goldberg in a tabloid style. There’s a place for this sort of site and, despite myself, I cite it often as an interesting case study, particularly how the forum feeds the news section with leads.
Digbeth is Good →
Blog covering Digbeth, an inner city area of Birmingham currently suffering from a severe case of the regenerations. Symptoms include schizophrenia and susceptibility to artists. Also has lots of old man pubs.
Nicky Getgood runs this blog which has been cited by people in rather high places as a damn good example of a local blog. I set her up with the Wordpress installation (“CiB...
Created in Birmingham | Linking up Birmingham’s... →
One of mine. Started Jan 2007 half as an idea about blogging a city that wasn’t London or New York and half as an exercise in convincing the creative and artistic communities in Birmingham that they needed to embrace this newfangled blogging stuff. And along the way to connect people who weren’t already connected. Oh, and to show you could have a damn useful website using free software...
Birmingham: It's Not Shit - Birmingham News and... →
The daddy. Started by Jon Bounds as a spoof after Birmingham’s pathetic City Of Culture bid and developed into a half-quirky, half-serious blog about the city.
life in lozells: true stories from lozells... →
Overview blog for Lozells set up by Lozells Neighbourhood Management which is connected to Birmingham City Council. I talked to John Heaven at the Social Media Surgery about this site. Shows a lot of promise.
The 2005 riots in Lozells dominate the search results for the area. While not brushing that under the carpet this is an attempt to balance that monocular view. That’s a pretty...
The King's Heathen →
Tumblr for Kings Heath gathering news and whatnot from the area. Group blog set up by Jon Bounds, related therefore to We Love Moseley and part of Jon’s notion of a Tumblr for every district in the city.
we love moseley →
Tumblr for Moseley set up by Jon Bounds with a number of contributors. Partner blog to The Kings Heathen and therefore part of Jon’s big idea to give every district in Birmingham a Tumblr of its own.
B13 →
Portal-style site for Moseley. Just been invigorated bringing in feeds for news, blogs and events. Also has a forum. Maybe the aggregation of stuff will help the forum? I’m dead skeptical about forums but you never know.
Interesting, maybe, to think of this as a conversational adjunct to We Love Moseley Tumblr which is being feed into the “blogs” tab?