Newark Mayor Co-Founds Social-Video Startup

In addition to Booker, the other Waywire co-founders include the company's CEO, Nathan Richardson, who is the former CEO of ContextNext Media and General Manager of Yahoo! Finance. Another Yahoo!(YHOO) veteran, Sarah Ross, is also a co-founder.

The founders are touting the startup as a "social artery." Richardson, for example, says Waywire will bring together a range of content from different sources. "We will be aggregating and curating what we believe is relevant," he told TheStreet. "We will pair that with user-generated content."

Booker himself is an avid user of social media, maintaining a constant dialogue with constituents via Twitter. Famously, after Newark was pounded by a snowstorm in 2010, he rushed around the city to dig people out, responding to their requests for help via the social network.

"I love social media because it's a powerful tool in my tool box for serving my residents," he said. "It would take me days and days to physically meet thousands of my residents -- now they can meet with me in a few wiggles of their thumbs."

--Written by James Rogers in New York.

Follow @jamesjrogers

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