I like C's words in a comment best:  "You are about to embark on a huge great breaking adventure"   I also like the way C compared writing posts for Localism to writing articles for Wikipedia.  Great metaphor!  "wiki-pedia"  ... and Localism's logo:   "neighbor-pedia"

I've combined a list of links to help people get their minds around Localism ... at least to the extent I've got my mind around it.

Start by looking at your personal Localism page.  You find it by going to http://www.localism.com/agents/YOUR AR USERNAME

For example, my localism page is http://www.localism.com/agents/cheryljns

Then go to the Home page of Localism, http://www.localism.com/  scroll down to States and Provinces, and click on your State name .... Here is the California page http://www.localism.com/ca

Notice how the posts are a collection of entries from many different authors.  That's why it is important to Localism's creators to filter out stuff like big "subscribe to me" buttons, and maintain a more uniform look to the individual blogs, so they all look nice together on the same page.

Now go back to the Home page http://www.localism.com/ca  and in the Go Hyper Local! box start typing a city or community name.  As you type, the system will present a listing of counties, cities and communities that match the name you are typing.

Back on the Home page, http://www.localism.com click on La Jolla California for a sample of what a sponsored neighbor will look like.  Notice the little "About" blurb written by Roberta Murphy?  That's what the sponsorship is about ... you get to write the "about" blurb and the blurb is always displayed at the top of the community page.

Look to the left of the "About" blurb.  Those are the Top Neighbors.  Being in Top Neighbor position has to do with how many posts you have contributed, not whether or now you are sponsoring any communities.

Here are a list of links to posts recently written about Localism:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/584513/ActiveRain-Unveils-the-New

http://activerain.com/blogsview/27790/What-is-Localism

http://activerain.com/blogsview/586195/Localism-Q-A-Official

http://activerain.com/blogsview/573635/1-steps-to-Localism

http://activerain.com/blogsview/588712/Removing-skyscraper-ad-on

http://activerain.com/blogsview/587376/The-New-Localism-Strategies

http://activerain.com/blogsview/584121/-What-is-Localism

And here are my unofficial contributions....  

http://activerain.com/blogsview/589701/New-Localism-Understanding-Sponsorships

http://activerain.com/blogsview/590955/Are-You-Pro-Button

If you want to point to any other posts to add to this list, please do!