Idea Lab

SocMap: Why a Small Map App Can Be Better Than a Big Geo-Social Platform

by Kristofs Blaus
2010 Knight News Challenge Winner

We experimented with various concepts for SocMap.com for a whole year in an effort to create a map-based social network for connecting and informing people in local neighborhoods. The conclusion: Even though we can reach commendable levels of new user registration, our users don't create content and so the platform doesn't grow. Experimenting with usability didn't solve this, so we dug deeper. We came up with the idea of decentralizing SocMap -- creating small and useful map applications instead of a big geo-social platform. Creating applications are cheaper and easier than managing a large website, so we find them to...

• April 12, 2012
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SocMap.com's Location-Based Data Maps Becoming Real

by Kristofs Blaus
2010 Knight News Challenge Winner

SocMap.com is pleased to announce that we've launched the "tweets" and "places" features on our site, and we hope to debut "local initiatives," "local questions," and a city-planning game on February 1st. SocMap, a 2010 Knight News Challenge winner, is building a map-based interface for location-related data such as tweets, local initiatives, local news, public hearings, city-planning games, etc. We want to turn a city into a neighborhood, a place where everybody can see and hear their friends, communicate with each other, and get involved based on their geographical location. The project was started on Jan. 1, 2011. Here's an...

• December 7, 2011
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EuroSay.eu Gives Latvians a Voice in Legislation

by Kristofs Blaus
2010 Knight News Challenge Winner

EuroSay.eu, a social initiative framework similar to Avaaz.org and Change.org, aims to let people bring their ideas into the agenda initiatives for parliaments or state institutions. It was launched in Latvia at the start of July. It stands out with its user-friendly interface and integrated functionality for all involved parties -- the users, administrators and the target group (decision makers). Three days after its launch, Valdis Zatlers, Latvia's outgoing president, made a public appeal to use Manabalss.lv. Within a week, Saeima, the parliament of Latvia, decided to vote on the first of Manabalss.lv initiatives, and it was adopted in the...

• August 4, 2011
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What Would the Ideal Democracy-Enabling Tool Look Like?

by Kristofs Blaus
2010 Knight News Challenge Winner

Some say that the last place where true democracy existed were the city-states of Ancient Greece. They had it all: Direct communication between citizens and public officials, complete transparency, minimal corruption. Time passed and the population increased dramatically, which in part meant that public officials fell out of touch with the people who put them in office. To alleviate this, over time and in other societies, trade unions, non-governmental organizations and various movements were started -- and democracy got more complicated. Turns out, this is all backwards. In my view, modern people no longer identify themselves by any one characteristic....

• January 7, 2011
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A Six-Step Process for Managing Web Projects

by Kristofs Blaus
2010 Knight News Challenge Winner

After years of intensive work in the IT industry, I've put together a practical guide to project development that my company uses for 99 percent of our projects. So far we've done amazingly well with this approach. Once you know it, it feels so simple and natural that you don't even know you know it. In the interest of helping other folks with their development projects -- and to encourage you to offer your tips and suggestions in the comments -- I offer our process. Step One: Consultations This is where you start brainstorming about the core idea, as well...

• November 4, 2010
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SocMap.com (GoMap) Helps Communities Map Local Events, News

by Kristofs Blaus
2010 Knight News Challenge Winner

SocMap.com (GoMap) is a map-based interface for local news, initiatives, building projects, public hearings and tweets. Our project, which won a 2010 Knight News Challenge grant (GoMap)-riga, is ment to turn a city into a neighborhood, a place where everybody sees and hears his/her friends, can communicate with each other, and have fun based on their geographical location. Here's how the project was described by the Knight Foundation: To inspire people to get involved in their community, this project will create a live, online map with local news and activities. SocMap.com (GoMap) Riga will pull some content from the web...

• August 16, 2010
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