I’m constantly evangelizing about Austin Post – an online newspaper by, of, and for the people – where anyone can post, comment, vote, etc. At its finest, it’ll be totally edited, reported on, and curated by its readers. (It’s totally not there yet, but it will get there)
Anyway, today Austin Post announced its Real Time Reporting functionality that is both an iPhone app (AP 2.0) and a widget on the site (www.austinpost.org). It’ll do this: when I’m sitting in traffic and there’s a crazy man trying to commit suicide off the bridge at Mopac & 290 and traffic is backed up for miles and miles because negotiators have been talking to him for three hours and I’m wondering why I’m sitting there because I don’t know about the crazy man, I turn to twitter. But I have to find someone else on mopac but further up, or someone who is listening to the news, between the tweets about cool links and 140-character ironies and Gossip Girl and Crossfit (ok, that’s what my twitter account looks like). So Austin Post Real Time Reporters categorize everything when they submit, which means if you want to find out what’s going on with Traffic, you look no further than the City category with its #traffic hashtag. Beautiful.
Download the app at the iTunes app store, check out the widget here.
BEST OF ALL, YOU CAN WIN $$ BY SUBMITTING REPORTS! Here’s the breakdown:
- November 17-20: use #traffic to report on congestion, accidents, and more – win $50 gas card
- November 21-22: use #city to voice your opinion on city issues and politics – win $50 Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf gift card
- November 23-27: use #food to show off your Thanksgiving spread or a restaurant dish – win $50 gift card to the restaurant of your choice
- November 28-Dec 2: use #fitness to talk about your workout or post a picture of you working out – $50 lululemon gift card