New Website Links Local Businesses, Shoppers

Two area men launched an ambitious new website that seeks to make social media more social.

"In real life, the people who know what you're doing are your friends," Bridgewater resident Jonathan Santos, who launched PlaceMeSocial.com with Bhavik Patel, of Warren, said. "The people who do not know what you're doing, are not your friends."

And unlike Facebook, where "friends" can be anywhere in the world and often, people you may not have actually met, PlaceMeSocial.com links people through ZIP codes—and the local shops they support.

Santos, 23, said they organized the site around two sides: personal pages and business pages, where local shops can post daily specials, people who are visiting the page are linked, and customers can review and rate the businesses.

"This could help businesses always be at their best," Santos said.

And with special listed, Santos and Patel, 22, anticipate customers will want to return frequently.

Accoridng to Santos, this makes the experience more personal and active than the usual Facebook "likes."

"You can go to Facebook and 'like' a site, but once youve 'liked' somebody, there's not much else for you to do," he said.

He also pointed out large businesses have co-opted much of Facebook's best features to the detriment of small, local businesses.

"We wanted to give businesses the opportunity to do as much marketing on the site as they choose to do," Santos said.

The site has about 120 registered users since Monday's launch, and several businesses are set to go when the business features launch Friday.

The two men spent almost exactly one year developing the site, with Santos focused on building in the marketing features that his background in website marketing and design indicated would be most helpful for small businesses, and Patel compiled the programming.