Let me ask you a question. When you're not reading a newspaper like the Montecito Messenger, where do you go online for local news? If you're like a lot of locals, you may be a regular visitor to Edhat.com.
Edhat has been around for seven or eight years and is constantly evolving. Originally, it promoted itself as being made up of "provocative contests, intriguing tidbits and local insight about Santa Barbara." It also had regular restaurant reviews. As more and more people transitioned from traditional newspapers to online websites and blogs, Edhat became an aggregator of links to local news stories. In recent months, Edhat has seemed to become inundated with people seeking referrals for goods and services. And then of course there are those comments by readers.
According to Peter Sklar, the creator and owner of Edhat, the site is at the height of its popularity having nearly doubled its number of visitors in the last year. Sklar takes exception to the term "aggregator" and to the notion that the site's emphasis has moved away from news. Over coffee on a weekend morning, he pointed out that "95 percent of the content on the site is Edhat's own" and that a lot of breaking news is posted on Edhat. (Finish reading this column at the Montecito Messenger.)
Never miss another one of my blog posts,
subscribe to Craig Smith's Blog by Email
© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com
 |  |  |
