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EveryBlock Shuts Site Down Permanently

The social media forum says they're shutting down for good, citing the news industry is going through a massive change.

 

Popular neighborhood forum and news aggregator EveryBlock announced Thursday morning it's shutting its doors for good.

In its final blog post, titled "Farewell, Neighbors," the Everyblock team said Thursday will be the company’s last day. EveryBlock is owned by NBC Universal.

EveryBlock Chicago sent its last message on its Twitter account Friday, Feb. 1, and the company as a whole sent out its last Tweet at 10:35 a.m. Thursday simply saying, "Farewell, neighbors."

The site was founded by Chicago's Adrian Holovaty after winning a two-year $1.1 million grant in 2007 by the Knight Foundation, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. EveryBlock expanded to 15 other cities beyond Chicago before it was sold to MSNBC.com in 2009.

The company's final blog reads as follows:

We’re sorry to report that EveryBlock has closed its doors.

It’s no secret that the news industry is in the midst of a massive change. Within the world of neighborhood news there’s an exciting pace of innovation yet increasing challenges to building a profitable business. Though EveryBlock has been able to build an engaged community over the years, we’re faced with the decision to wrap things up.

Thank you for having let us play a role in how you get your neighborhood news. Thanks for the contributions, for the questions, and for allowing us to connect you to each other, in many cases to make great things happen in your community. Along the way, we hope we’ve helped you be a better neighbor.

Follow us on Facebook: Lincoln Park / Lake View / Lincoln Square / Bucktown-Wicker Park /North Center-Roscoe Village

Related Topics: EveryBlock, NBC News, Social Media, closing business, and shutting down

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The Truth

12:42 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013

The denial was very comical.

Suzanne Plunkett

11:01 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013

So disappointing! I hope some brilliant techie can develop another similar one.

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Garry Albrecht

11:05 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013

Agree with Suzanne Plunkett! and with Michelle. it was fun and informative at the same time.

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WiscoGirl

11:09 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013

Where am I going to get info on the latest mugging and burglaries in my neighborhood now???? This is a very relevant issue to me and my family.

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Paul60657

11:13 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013

I guess The Patch needs to pick that up.

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Andy Ambrosius

11:26 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013

We actually do post crime maps and blotters all the time. Like this one, today, for Lakeview! http://patch.com/A-1Hrl

However, I have to admit, it's sad to see them go. We'll try our hardest to provide just as much local information and articles.

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Debbie Hunter

11:39 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013

I agree. It has caused me to become very alert of my surroundings around my neighborhood and I've been able to pass along some valuable info. to neighbors and friends.

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Andrew

1:03 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013

Crime maps and blotters aren't the same as getting first hand reports from the people who experience the crimes. The latter is much more informative from a prevention standpoint.

Judy E. Brady

11:38 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013

Sad to hear that EveryBlock is shutting down. Good information on the site--it will be missed.

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Garry Albrecht

12:03 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013

What was great about Everyblock it reported possible situations not reported by the police. But agree with Janet - her link is a good one.

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The Truth

12:31 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013

EB was nothing but "rose colored glasses". They could NOT accept reality.

Patch, keep on being real and you'll do fine.

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The Truth

7:50 am on Friday, February 8, 2013

Yet the menace to society that was calling out the slobs letting their dogs poo on the beach was boldly described in the headline as "White, about 6'4".

The guy with a user name of ADT was called out for "advertising" for simply giving great home security tips yet Julio Dubliooolooo was allowed to post all his contact information, including cell number, to sell insurance.

No problems with that hypocrisy and racism lthough.

MrsM

10:28 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013

I'll miss it but at least we still have the Patch!

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tony

7:23 am on Friday, February 8, 2013

I didn't even know it still existed.

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Geri Gidley

11:31 am on Friday, February 8, 2013

Poor Mgt.!! The way they handled the good posters versus the bad posters...always ended up with the good guys being thrown into time out (penalty box).

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The Truth

11:46 am on Friday, February 8, 2013

You just unplug your cable box to assign a new ISP # and then establish a new user i.d. to work around that. They weren't quite "techie" enough to figure that out and were too concerned with promoting "indie" organic cupcake stores while justifying or denying gunfire on their own porches . EB was flat-out "rayciss". They definitely bit off more than they could chew.

Rudolph Bliefernick

9:41 am on Saturday, February 9, 2013

Nice to see the butt-hurt bigots still complaining.

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