Ghost of Midnight

… about neighbors, community and Front Porch Forum

Online Community and Access

Posted on Monday, May 7, 2007 by No comments yet

Some of our more internet-savvy Front Porch Forum subscribers get frustrated with the lack of features in our current offering. Some requests we get from this group are solid and sensible, while others stray into the bells and whistles category. Ultimately, satisfaction comes to these high-end folks when they adjust their expectations.

Front Porch Forum is a walk down a tree-lined village street vs. some other Web 2.0 sites that are more akin to navigating L.A.’s freeways during rush hour.

One of our long-running goals with this service has been to keep it so simple that anyone who uses the internet can participate… regardless of skill, operating system, connection speed, etc.

I was a little surprised today when Deb, a subscriber who has made great use of her neighborhood’s forum (found a lost dog, met people, raised a crowd of volunteers for a clean-up event, etc.) confessed today that she considers herself very much NOT a computer person. In fact, she has yet to successfully log into the member-only section of our site.

Wow! That’s exactly what we set out to do… reach people who care about their neighborhood, regardless of computer skill. Deb can send and receive email… so she can participate in her neighborhood forum… and she does just that in a big way. When I told her of our goal of wide access, regardless of computer know-how, she answered… “You are succeeding FAMOUSLY with that goal!!” Thanks Deb!

Posted in: Community Building, Front Porch Forum, Local Online, Neighborhood, Social Media, Stories


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