Play our GroupsNearYou game and map the world

One of mySociety’s most below-the-radar projects is GroupsNearYou.com , a project to build a web service that eventually will allow other websites, such as FixMyStreet, to tell their users “Look! There’s a local email list here. Why not join it and discuss what you can do to stop those phoneboxes being smashed up?””

However, in order for GroupsNearYou to become a useful web service for mySociety and the rest of the geospatial Internet, it really needs a good pile of pre-existing groups adding from across the globe. To help with this process Richard Pope has built a little game, rather in the spirit of our video timestamping game. To play it involves trying to identify which Yahoo Groups (and soon others, like Google Groups) cover which areas on the ground.

Reasons we think you should have a play include:

  1. That strange instinct we all sometimes have that compels us to scrabble to the top of any league table.
  2. The chance to learn about the most random community groups and what they’re up to in strange places you’ll never visit.
  3. The warm glow of knowing you’re helping build up a little piece of the web of small pieces.
  4. The prospect of free food, hoodies and love from the mySociety community.
  5. Chance to come to our sold-out 5th birthday party in London
  6. Your day job is less fun than this game.

Thanks Richard!

1 Comment

  1. Voluntary Action Sheffield (VAS) is a charity that supports the development of a vibrant, effective and influential voluntary and community sector locally. VAS provides a wide range of services, including specialist support, advice and training to over 900 voluntary and community organisations in Sheffield each year and we promote and support volunteering in the city.
    An excellent site and easy to find your way around.