Member company City Dictionary has partnered with Broadcast Interactive Media to launch its service in 80 news markets around the country. From City Dictionary’s press release:
Broadcast Interactive Media (BIM) today unveiled a new partnership between Social Media Platform, YouNews™ and hyper-local content provider City Dictionary (CityDictionary.com). The two Madison, WI-based companies have combined forces to provide users of the nearly 80 YouNews affiliates across the U.S. an opportunity to experience and contribute to a growing localized dictionary of community terms, slang, “isms†and definitions.
City Dictionary, launched in May 2008, showcases the personality of individual cities through eccentricities of language and culture. The site relies on input from registered users, or “citizens†who contribute words or phrases and share information about attractions, events, restaurants, people and more. Case in point: a Milwaukee drinking fountain is called a “bubbler†and “slugging†in DC is a form of hitchhiking that allows commuters to use the faster HOV lane. Information and little-known facts abound on City Dictionary, which earned the top prize in the 2009 G. Steven Burrill Business Plan Competition.
“We’re capturing the local subtleties of American cities that other resources might be missing,†says Thomas Carmona, co-founder of City Dictionary. “The goal is to engage contributors from around the country and collect as many terms as possible — places, businesses, neighborhoods and slang — that become part of ‘everyday speak’ for various places.â€
YouNewsâ„¢ – a social media platform where members of the community upload videos/photos to local media websites – now includes a City Dictionary channel with options to view existing content, add a word, add a definition and more. For example, visitors to KHOU.com in Houston, TX may navigate to the YouNews section of the site to learn the origin of the area’s many nicknames including: Space City, Bayou City, H-Town and Clutch City. If a favorite is missing, a new moniker can be added to the Houston Dictionary.