Category Archives: Online Civility

Friends and More Through FPF

Posted on Thursday, November 9, 2023 by No comments yet

Front Porch Forum’s goal is to foster connection among neighbors. Catharine, a Brandon FPF member, shares just how possible that is!

I was looking for about 10 hangers and received more than double that number of responses! I was able to get them from a kind friend and neighbor who saw my request. I’m so sorry I couldn’t keep up with responding to people, so here is a BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!

I am so grateful that I found this forum when I moved here. I’ve had the opportunity to travel into neighborhoods and streets that are off my beaten path… a nice excuse to explore my little town. But most importantly: I’ve made a few friends through FPF and for that alone I am forever grateful.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Posted on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 by 1 comment

Discussions among neighbors are a life line to building social capital in communities. Members are turning to their neighbors on Front Porch Forum to solve everyday problems. Here are some real conversations happening right now on FPF: 

Where to do Trick-or-Treating?

  • “Hello fellow FPF peeps. Last year, Middlebury hosted trick or treating the Saturday or Sunday before Halloween. Does anyone know anything and if it is happening this year?”
  • “October is finally here and our family is extremely excited for Halloween but we are new to the area. We were wondering does anyone know any neighborhoods in St. Johnbury or Woodville that still does Trick or Treating?”

What to do about Jumping Worms?

  • “To my fellow gardeners. I have been seeing Asian jumping worms at several of my jobs. You can learn more about them online. Be very careful sharing plants with others.”
  • “In doing Fall chores in vegetable and flower gardens I have discovered lots of these new worms – lots. Not sure what to do, if anything, about this situation. Anyone have thoughts?”

Lost Items Found

  • “Thanks to Front Porch Forum and the many people walking on cotton brook road I got my car key back. Thank you all! I love this Town!”
  • “Thanks to wonderful neighbors and FPF my items were recovered from some bushes elsewhere in the neighborhood. I’m so very grateful! Lock your doors!”

Anyone driving to…?

  • “Is anyone available to provide safe transportation to and from Bradley Airport the week of Thanksgiving?”
  • “There was a very nice young man who stopped in today at the Town Hall, who needs a ride to Brownington… I told him our little town has amazing folks, and I’m sure some one would reach out to him and help him out!

Recommendations for Bats in the Wall?

  • “Just in time for Halloween it sounds like some bats have found a way to get into our walls. We tried contacting a company listed on google and they told us it would be a month just to look at the issue. I’d prefer to not have bats pooping in my wall for over a month, but wasn’t sure if this was the normal turnaround for pest removal. Thanks!”
  • “We are repainting our house and found there are bats in the roof of our home… We are looking for someone who can help us safely get rid of the bats without hurting them or our home. I’d love recommendations or anyone who has experience doing this themselves as well.”

Responses come back straight to the Forum or emailed directly to members. What could you use some help with today? Post to your FPF to see if neighbors can help with a solution!

A pleasant way to sell a bike…

Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2023 by No comments yet

A sweet note from Sheryl in Waterbury:

“It has been many years since I have used Front Porch Forum and I have had the best experience selling my bicycle today! Friendly emails and very nice people! I am grateful for this community service.”

Sweet and Simply Put…

Posted on Monday, February 13, 2023 by No comments yet

This posting from a member in Hardwick just came in and warmed our hearts.

“I am so grateful for FPF for the sense of community and support; any time I post, I am overwhelmed with responses that leave me feeling cared for and with a sense of belonging.” – Lisa, Hardwick

Neighborly Discussions about Difficult Local Issues

Posted on Friday, February 10, 2023 by No comments yet

Neighbors engage in productive, meaningful discussions every day on Front Porch Forum in communities all across Vermont.  In addition to finding lost dogs, selling used bikes, and recommending mechanics, FPF is a popular place to tackle local issues in respectful and neighborly ways.

For example, Connie shared on her Williston Forum this week…

“I am very grateful to FPF for allowing all of us the opportunity to vent mutual concerns and come together as a group to discuss potential ways to resolve these shared concerns. Thank you FPF!!! I now don’t feel alone in my discontent and I have learned new ways to address the USPS issues. Our shared concerns matter. Let’s keep communicating!”

Add your voice to your local Forum. Join and post at FrontPorchForum.com!

Fixing Digital Public Spaces

Posted on Monday, February 6, 2023 by No comments yet

Leslie Stebbins was quoted in a recent Salon article, “Our digital public spaces aren’t so healthy… Can we fix that?” (read full article here) that…

Tech companies maintain that they cannot moderate online communities because that would jeopardize our right to free speech and because there is simply too much content flying across these networks to track. Both these issues are false flags. We now know that the core infrastructure of these platforms is intentionally designed to amplify vitriol and misinformation because this increases engagement, keeps us online longer, and provides tech companies with billions of dollars from ad revenue. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Further, Stebbins adds, We should focus on creating new spaces that have explicit civic goals and are designed for equity and social cohesion. Real-world communities need to be involved in intentionally designing their own local digital public spaces rather than leaving this work to global tech companies.

Front Porch Forum gets a nice spotlight in the article…

Front Porch Forum […] focuses on real world community building. It is the antithesis of Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter. Rather than try to keep users online, it strives to get people offline and more connected to their local Vermont neighbors. Most people spend five or ten minutes a day online to get news that their neighbors have posted: lost dogs, bake sales and announcements of upcoming school board meetings. It is funded by donations and local ads based on where someone lives, but it does not track user behavior and advertising does not drive platform design.

Independent research on Front Porch [Forum] shows that it builds social cohesion and is improving the resilience of local Vermont communities. Building stronger community cohesion produces many intangible benefits such as high civic engagement, more instances of neighbors helping neighbors, and lower crime rates.

Another Shout Out to FPF in NY Times

Posted on Monday, December 12, 2022 by No comments yet

Thanks to Jill who just posted on the Craftsbury Forum:

“I just came across this New York Times article  recognizing the great job Front Porch Forum is doing with keeping Vermonters connected. I know my family and I are grateful for the network it provides.”

Solving Social Media’s ‘Local Paradox’

Posted on Thursday, October 6, 2022 by No comments yet
Stanford SOCIAL INNOVATION Review

A new article in a Stanford University journal underscores various failures of Big Tech social media, and highlights Vermont’s own Front Porch Forum as a better way.

In the bowels of social media giants, like NextDoor and Facebook, live online spaces for local social networks to take hold (e.g., a neighborhood based Facebook group). 

One might think a healthy form of social connection would come from these local online networks because they’re grounded in real-world relationships and physical space — you could literally bump into that posting’s author on your way to school drop off — but in practice, as this article points out, local social media can be even more toxic than global platforms. It’s dubbed the ‘local paradox‘. 

The solution to this local paradox, they say, is to build networks that are values-driven, closely moderated, trusted, and local. Further, they share Front Porch Forum as a leading example