OverheardInNewYork, Tracking N.Y. City Conversations

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

Overheard in New York is a Web site that has become a sensation, spawned a book and inspired imitators throughout the Internet (such as Overheard in the Office, Overheard in Dublin). It still hasn’t turned a profit, however, and the book hasn’t brought in much money, according to founder and publisher Morgan Friedman.

It all began three years ago, when Friedman overheard a man telling someone on his cell phone: “You asked me how I’m doing, and I tell you — and then you bring it back to yourself. You always do that.”

“I heard that, and I thought this is so funny, and it’s also just like every single relationship I’ve ever had — someone needs to start a Web site to just capture these moments,” said Friedman, now 30. Source: SFGate

There are similar sites in other cities now, such as Nairobi, Dublin, Bucharest and Philadelphia. The New York site is the most popular though. The site sifts through the many submissions and publishes no more than 12 a day, except for Wednesday, which is one-liner day.

We Say: I can see why this is popular. For years, I’ve been reading Leah Garchik on the back page of Datebook in the S.F. Chronicle; she always has a small section called “Public Eavesdropping” with basically the same sort of content. I’ve always enjoyed that part of her column.