Fatdoor, neighbors, privacy and Web 3.0

More about Fatdoor, a new community networking site that is expected to launch next month -- from a post at Wikipedia.

The idea: a "worldwide claimable social network that was pre-populated and allowed neighbors to meet their real life neighbors." The site is intended for business networking and personal networking at a very local level. Presumably, real estate folks will have some interest in a site that allows you to connect with people at a neighborhood level. (See earlier Inman News blog post here.)

Privacy issues reportedly raised some eyebrows among some VCs and testers, and the site's creators hired a privacy consultant and delayed the public launch, which had been planned for this month.

Some lofty goals for the site: Fatdoor is intended to "define the word Web 3.0. to mean a new class of companies that combines the real world and the Internet for positive social change. The company hopes that neighborhoods get stronger, people develop friendships in their neighborhoods and become more civic in their involvement in their communities. Time will tell."

Raj Abhyanker, a former candidate for a seat on the City Council in Cupertino, Calif., got the idea for Fatdoor.com while meeting with residents during his campaign. "He discovered that neighbors on many streets, even those immediately across from each other didn't know each other. In addition, he noticed that many had similar interests and were happy to learn of other neighbors who shared similar interests in their neighborhood."

He teamed up Chandu Thota, the lead developer of Microsoft Virtual Earth, and hired Sanjeez Agrawal, former head of marketing at Google, as a strategic advisor. They approached the VC crowd: "Some VCs were concerned about the privacy and defamation implications of Fatdoor, however most were intrigued by the power of Fatdoor to affect positive social change and community interaction."

Alpha-testers of the site had mixed reactions, according to the Wikipedia article: "People loved the power of Fatdoor, but were afraid of the privacy concerns associated with the site. As a result, the founders of the company decided to delay the launch. The site is expected to launch on May 29 with 130 million people and business profiles with hopes "to create the world's first 1 billion person neighbor network on the Internet."

The company hired privacy consultant Tara Lemmey, former President of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Privacy Advisory Committee. "Fatdoor has implemented a number of strong privacy safeguards while preserving the concept of neighbors meeting neighbors in real life through the Internet," according to the Wikipedia post.

More here on potential real estate applications for the site.

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