Local news and curated lists

One area where real-time curators can add particular value is with local lists, applying their concentrated knowledge of their surroundings for the benefit of the community.

It can be as simple as a regular citizen putting together a list of local taco carts, which could be useful for more readers if they simply know where to find it. Local journalists can assemble a list with the best sources for political news. By bringing together these authoritative sources,  curators filter the real-time firehose into something useful.

As an example, the SF Public Press, a non-profit news startup, put together a list of news sources for the Bay Area they are displaying on their home page. By curating this list, they get a real-time feed of new information on their site without having to actively update their page. Using the Publitweet widget, they can also see how people are interacting with the widget to find out how that news is spreading, potentially leading to ideas for issues they should be writing about.