Category Archives: Twitter

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.

Going on a Bear Hunt

Posted on Wednesday, April 1, 2020 by No comments yet

“This just makes me so happy. My @frontporchforum has never seen this much action.” • Whitney in Burlington

Front Porch Forum members are creating local scavenger hunts. The popular “Bear Hunt” is fun for kids. Neighbors put teddy bears (and other stuffed animals) in their own windows for children to spot when they walk or ride around their neighborhoods. 

“Would folks like to create a bear hunt? We will definitely have some bears in our windows and are curious if other neighbors would like to join in the “hunt”.  Members of a number of communities across the globe are placing teddy bears and other stuffed animals in their homes’ windows to create a scavenger hunt-esque activity for kids who are stuck at home. While taking walks or drives around the neighborhood with their parents, kids in participating communities can have some fun by keeping an eye out for any number of stuffed animals that have been put on display at other houses.”  • Judy in Burlington

Start one in your neighborhood with a post on FPF!

Finding Housing in Vermont

Posted on Wednesday, August 28, 2019 by No comments yet

FPF member, Katie G., tweeted this great tip for finding housing on Front Porch Forum:

“A thing I love about Vermont: on it’s face, renting is hard (especially w/a dog), but if you put a post about yourself up on Front Porch Forum (i.e. pretty much send a personal ad about yourself to the whole town), tons of people will reach out with unadvertised housing opps!”

What are you waiting for? Reach out to your neighbors on FPF today!

Does Facebook make you sick?

Posted on Sunday, April 15, 2012 by No comments yet

Stephen Marche writes in The Atlantic Magazine (May 2012)…

Social media from Facebook to Twitter have made us more densely networked than ever. Yet for all this connectivity, new research suggests that we have never been lonelier (or more narcissistic) and that this loneliness is making us mentally and physically ill. A report on what the epidemic of loneliness is doing to our souls and our society.