Yearly Archives: 2008
Hate online ads? How much?
Mike Vorhaus blogged today at Advertising Age…
Consumers might “hate ads,” but not enough to pay even as little as a few cents a day to avoid them.
He reported on a survey…
When we asked consumers if they would pay $39.99 a year, which comes out to less than $4 a month, for an ad-free version of one of their favorite sites, only 2.4% said definitely yes, they would be likely to do so. And only 3.5% said they’d be very likely. In fact, 84% of the people said they’d be unlikely or not at all likely.
At the lower price of $29.99 a year, or less than $3 a month, only another 1.9% of consumers said they would be very likely to pay for an ad-free version.
Investing in Community during Economic Crisis
During this economic downturn, Front Porch Forum is seeing signs of hope as people turn toward investing more in community and personal relationships with those around them. This is a good move individually, as well as for a region. A recent study found a “significant correlation between community-citizen engagement and the economic growth.”
An example… One can take a second job working at WalMart, invest the income in a mutual fund, and hope that the principal is still there in a few months. Or, one can spend those hours instead volunteering on community projects with neighbors (rebuilding a playground, forming a neighborhood watch, etc.)… investing that time and energy into your home place.
Some recent vignettes from FPF…
Community More Powerful Than Locks!
Hi folks – With all this talk about bike theft, thought it would be a good time to share with you that my bike, which I reported stolen about a month ago, was spotted by a friend and successfully returned to me! I’d also like to share how super supportive this community was in response–I received over 10 offers to borrow or keep spare bikes. I feel very, very, fortunate to live here, and appreciate the ways we work together. Thanks to everyone!
ROOM AT OUR TABLE
Hi Neighbors – Did you forget to make plans for Thanksgiving? Plans fall through? Looking at a boring/lonely turkey sandwich? Have a friend in such a situation? Please consider joining us. We have a few (1-3) extra seats at our cozy table, a big turkey, lots of other yummy dishes, and a lot of friendship to share. Kids welcome.Please join us in celebrating this season of blessings and renewal…give me a call or email…
Lost Dog Pulls Neighbors Together
I did get a lot of responses offering help [from my Front Porch Forum posting]. Many people offered to take the dog in until the owner was found, others offered to help put up notices in the neighborhood and others gave support by offering food and such to help me while I looked for the owner. Using the front porch forum really brought the community together for a small little dog, that I truly fell in love with in just over 24 hours. Thanks.
And some FPF posting headlines from the past few days…
• Seeking Item Donations for MFCC Holiday Festival
• Northgate Holiday Craft Fair Dec. 6
• Shelburne Museum Store Sale Nov. 28-30
• Bottle Drive for Project Graduation
• Saputo Site Ideas
• New Member Seeking Apartment
• Local Food Film and Tasting Dec. 4
• State Surplus Property Sale
• Free Puppy Food
• Seeking House to sit for Christmas
• Neighborhood Kids’ Food Drive Nov. 25
• Bike Path Repairs Needed
• HOSPITAL MASTER PLAN TALK DEC. 4
• Thwarting Break-Ins With Lights
• Massage Gift Certificates For Sale
• Thursday Morning Yoga Class
• Energy Workshop Dec. 3
• Saputo Silos Village skyline
• window washer recommended
• Treemendous Event Dec. 11
• Please support ‘Kids Collect for Kids’ Food Drive
• Oakledge condo for rent
• Food Drive Thank you
• seeking winter parking
• Thank you Potluck Contributors and Volunteers!
• Winter Walking – Police Update
• winter sport gear for sale
• seeking dog sitter Dec. 20-31
• Where to donate clothes?
• Dog Parks and Wind Turbines
• Master Gardener Course begins Feb.
• seeking foundation contractor recommendations
• Hunger in our neighborhoods – help available
• kitten’s owners found
• Community Holiday Gathering, Tree Lighting Dec. 6
• Creating a Backyard Habitat – Talk Dec. 11
• seeking car trade
• Acupuncturist Recommended
• Guide to Commercial-Free Holidays
• seeking PET SITTER Nov. 26-28
• commercial-free holidays
• christmas gift suggestions
• Puerto Rico Vacation Rental Available
• Saputo Redevelopment
• Zumba Is ON for Thanksgiving Week!
• Democrats and Progressives Forum Dec. 4
• Improving our Forum
• Seeking Attorney Recommendations
• Winter Parking Ban Begins Dec.1
• Lock your cars!
• Community More Powerful Than Locks!
• New Bus Station Opens Dec. 1
• Lang Farm Development – Meeting Nov. 29
• Birds of Vermont holiday gift sale
• Plowing the Bike Path
• Underage Drinking and Drug Use Dialogue Dec. 3
• Car Broken Into
• PET SITTER NO LONGER NEEDED
• Car Break-Ins
• Lions Club Christmas Tree Sale Starts Dec. 1
• Seeking VW Mechanic Recommendations
• Snow Tires For Sale
• Williston Rec Path in Winter
• Dining with Diabetes Class
• ANR seeks input on West Street Complex
• HUNTERS BREAKFAST Nov. 29-30
• Saputo site suggestion
• food drive thanks
• Massage Studio available for rent
• READING MENTORS NEEDED
• Burton Strikes Back
• Host a ballet dancer Nov. 28-30
• Art Center Gallery Sale Dec. 4
• Ski Swap Jan. 5-10
• Woodlawn Road Complaint Letters
• Seeking Subletters Dec.-June
• Seeking Adult Reading Mentors
• Prudential Committee: Board Brief #3
• New Bus Station Opening Postponed
• Holiday Event Smith Park Nov. 29
• NPA Meetings Dec. 2 and 4
• Water and Sewer Bills Due Dec. 1
• WHS Basketball Dec. 3-6
• Advent Concert Dec. 4
• Location Change: City Council and Development Review Meetings
• Seeking Purse Finder
• Seeking Recount Workers
• Hoax about Carjacking
• Seeking Purse Finder
• Please Fill Out NPA Report Card
• Seeking Housemate
• Dog Park
• Library’s December Newsletter
• Help a Child Find Direction-Mentor
• City Council Committee to discuss CEDO Commission Dec. 2
• Art Fits Puzzle Hop Starts Dec. 3
• Mechanic Recommended
• snow plow service needed
• Seeking Ski Mountain Carpool/Rideshare!
• Seeking roommate
• Anonymous Complaint Letters
• Help with Toys for Kids
• Seeking Housing in our Neighborhood
• Free Mother Goose Program Dec. 8!
• The Financial Crisis – A Vermont Fairy Tale
• Menu for the Future Discussion Group
• HUNGER IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS – HELP AVAILABLE
• Ice Rink Assembly Nov. 30
• Join Us at Lincoln Inn After Tree Lighting Dec. 3
• Miss Vermont to Read Holiday Stories Dec. 20
• Reiki Master and Energy Body Worker
• Women’s Festival of Crafts Nov. 29-30
• COMMERCIAL-FREE HOLIDAYS and CHILDREN’S RESILIENCE
• hi everyone
• Strengthening Children’s resilience talk Dec. 8
• About community and locks…
• Snow Plow Recommendation
• New store open in Hinesburg
• Holiday Theater
• Camel’s Hump Christmas Trees re-opened!
• Free Pool Table
• GREAT DUPLEX AVAILABLE IN JANUARY
• Mary Kay Neighbor
• early season ski house rental
• Seeking VHS player
• path to Sandra Circle from Sunset Dr?
• Two offerings: photography and Commanding Wealth
• Two free UVM hockey tickets Sat.
• Seeking Refrigerator boxes
• Seeking naturopath recommendations
• rowing machine for sale
• Naturopath recommended
• Door-to-door incident – Exercise Caution!
• SB Rebel Hockey Advertising
• Seeking dog crate
• GREEN HOUSCLEANING AVAILABLE
• Seeking Daycare assistant and substitutes
• Events at Your Library
• Available for leaf raking and yardwork
• Childcare and tutoring available
• Village 2-bedroom housing wanted
• Need housesitters?
• Rec Path, COMMERCIAL-FREE HOLIDAYS, CHILDREN’S RESILIENCE
• Found Cat
• Legislative Forum Dec. 1
• Seeking Ping Pong Table
• Awesome Studio Sale Dec. 6
• House Painter Recommended
• Seeking Plumber Recommendations
• Free Cabinet
• Holiday Concert Dec. 7
• RABA Richmond Holiday Market Dec. 6
• Vermont as Endangered Place Dec. 3
• Seeking Local Food shelf
• Kid Train Table Offered
• Holiday Concert and Sing-Along Dec. 14
• Seeking Trailer Wheels
• Free Chicken Coop
• Nintendo and Game Boy For Sale
• Apology for Disturbing Neighbors
• Snow removal available
• Film, Food and Hinesburg Dec. 4
• Seeking lost cat
• Looking for Parking Space
• City Council Candidate – Dec.2 Gathering, Dec. 3 Caucus
• Charity concert Dec. 5
• Homeowners’ Assn. Meeting and Gathering
• New to front porch forum
• Seeking Kid’s Winter Outerwear Donations
• Williston Community Tree Lighting Dec. 7
• Interested In Crafts Classes?
• Christmas Trees For Sale
• Seeking Dentist Recommendations
• Why Can’t Progs and Dems Just Get Along? Dec. 4
• NPA Report Card: Survey website Correction
• Cat Found, Thanks
• Very Merry Theatre, Ski Rental
• Seeking Christmas Tree Recommendations
• Reliable Odd Jobber For Hire
• More On Anonymous Complaint Letters
• Seeking Roommate!
• Free treatment for Alcohol Problems
• Comments Sought On Winooski’s Community Development Plan
• Seeking Queen-Size Bed Frame
• Tasty Food IS possible with Diabetes
• Political Gathering Dec. 2, Democratic Caucus Dec. 3
• Learn to Skate Event Dec. 13
• Room Sublet Available Dec. 23-Feb. 8
• Organic, Gluten-free, Vegan Holiday Confections
• Free Piano
• Winooski Winter Market Dec. 6, 13
• Betty Ann Lockhart and Marilyn Webb Neagley Dec. 4
• Film on Civil Rights Leader Dec. 8
• seeking sewing machine service
• queer writing group starts Dec. 2
• Stamp Out and Polish Off Diabetes Dec. 4
• neighborhood holiday events?
• School Board Budget Meeting Dec. 3
• Milton Historical Museum Holiday Open House Dec. 7
• Quilt Group Now Dec. 9
• Open house/jewelry party Dec. 7
• found keys – yours?
• Local Handywoman for hire
• Seeking pre-school playmates
• Storyteller Benefits Westford School Dec. 3
• Bazaar at Unitarian Universalist Society Dec. 6
• Plumber recommended
• seeking pet sitter
• Free desk
• bodywork, meditation at wilding studio
• South End Santa to visit Dec. 14
• Florida House for Rent
• localvore holiday gift ideas from Backdoor Bakery
• Burlington Earth Clock Progress
• Stand Up Comedy Dec. 9
• Home Energy-Saving Workshop Dec. 3
• Obama Inauguration Trip
• Free Dryer
• Women’s Winter Shoes For Sale
• Queer Writing Group
• Seeking Lost Dog
• Babysitting Services Offered
• Direct Link to Municipal Plan
• Seeking Futon
• Seeking MORTAR Mix
• Scouts Seek Pull Tabs to Benefit Ronald McDonald House
• CODE ENFORCEMENT, COMMUNITY POLICING – NPA Airtimes
• Westford 8th Grade Class Fundraisers – Calendar Sale Dec. 3
• Pasta Maker For Sale
• Democratic Caucus Dec. 3
• Benefit for Betty – Guy Mendilow Band Dec. 5
• Bike Workshop for Women Dec. 3
• Playground Fundraiser – Thanks!
• Join GJEP for Evening of Local Foods Dec. 4
• Dan Smith for Mayor
• ONE Arts and Business Network Mtg. Dec. 10
• ‘Photographic Suburbia’ Opens Dec. 6
• Gardener’s Supply Holiday Sale
• CarShare VT: Name Our Cars Contest!
• Souther Connector / Champlain Parkway
• Tree Seminar Dec. 11
• fire alarms; bridal shop coupon; lights on Essex Way
• Babysitter/Gift Wrapper/Personal Shopper Extraordinaire!
• why can’t progs and dems just get along?
• VT Workers’ Center Hosts Human Rights Conference Dec. 13
• Music and Art Event Dec. 6
• Turkey Trot Results
• HOLIDAY COOKIE SWAP DEC. 10
• Food Shelf in Cambridge
• Jude Bond Exhibit Opens Dec. 12
• Book Fair Benefits Lyric Theatre Dec. 5
• seeking housing
• Winter’s Eve at Ethan Allen Homestead Dec. 13
• Christmas Trees Recommended
• CRASH COLLECTIVE INFOSHOP OPEN HOUSE Dec. 4
• Burlington Legacy Project Town Meeting Dec. 9
• LIVE MUSIC FROM ICELAND IN O.N.E. Dec. 5
• Waldorf School Holiday Fair Dec. 5-6
• Latin Dance Workshop Dec. 6
• Holiday Craft and Tag Sale Dec. 5-6
• Holiday Craft Fair Dec. 6
• Seeking Math Tutor
• Free Exterior Doors, Frames
• Alison Bechdel at Flying Pig Bookstore Dec. 3
• Seeking Short-Term Rental
• Free Cabinet, Turkey Feeder
• Dog Found, Thanks
• Seeking Raw Goat’s Milk
• First Night Volunteer Opportunities!
• New ‘Neighbor’ Joins Forum
• CHILDCARE AVAILABLE
• Support Circles for Peace
• Cochran After School Ski Program
• Holiday Art Sale Dec. 5
• sublet potentially available
• Trapped Cats; VSO Dec. 6; Show Dec.5
• 4 Weeks of Winter Farm Share For Sale
• Joyeux Noel Film Dec. 5
• Seeking Treadmill
• Clothing Collector for Relocation Programs?
• Stray Cats – Yours?
• Parenting Classes
• Parenting Classes, Circles For Peace, Alcohol Treatment
• Winooski Community Calendar Dec.
• Dec. 1 City Council Meeting – Airtimes
• Schools EXCELLENCE AND EQUITY UPDATE
• Yes to Food Donation, Santa Visit
• Air Service Burlington to Boston?
• Burlington to Boston Air Service?
• Seniors Help Ethiopian Children – You Can Too
• WALDORF SCHOOL HOLIDAY FAIR DEC. 5-6
• Southern Connector Issues
• Learning Express fundraiser for local preschool
• Santa’s Workshop for kids Dec. 13
• House and Dog Sitting Services Available
• 8th Grade DC Fundraisers
• Circles for Peace, Treatment for Alcohol Problems
• Break-Ins
• Babysitter available
• Holiday Band Concert Dec. 7
• Lighting Trees, Writing Blogs
• HEINEBERG CENTER HOLIDAY BAZAAR DEC. 6
• Huntington Community Movie Night Dec. 5
• Snowboarding Equipment Wanted
• New Mayoral Candidate
• Vermont International Festival this weekend
• 16th Vermont International Festival this weekend
• Neighborhood Babysitter Wanted
• TIVO DVR Recorder for Sale
• 3rd Annual Five Sisters Neighborhood Fine Art and Craft Fair Dec. 13
• seeking driftwood
• Waldorf Holiday Fair Dec. 5-6
• UPCOMING EVENTS AT UNITED CHURCH OF WESTFORD
• ‘Away in a Manger – A Nativity Exhibit’ at St. Joseph School
• Holiday Tree Lighting Dec. 5
• Forum Dec. 4: Why Can’t Progs and Dems Get Along
• FPF explained
• holidaze art show and sale Dec. 5-6
• Seeking Summer Lake Rental
• CHSA Annual Mtg. Dec. 7
• Comment on New Zoning Regs Until Dec. 8
• New Coop Mtg. Dec. 12
• Futon for sale
• Roof Top Carrier Available
• Huntington Break-ins
• Holiday concert Dec. 19
• Five Sisters Neighborhood Fine Art and Craft Fair Dec. 13
• Xmas Massage Gift Certificates
• Seeking Cat sitter
• FREE printers!
• Burlington Community Choir Concert Dec. 5
• UNITED CHURCH OF WESTFORD – CORRECTION
• SEEKING SHORT-TERM RENTAL
• Time Correction for Betty Concert
• Seeking Dog walker
• RABA Holiday Market Dec. 6
• Holiday Roasts For Sale
• Help Desk Positions Available
• Kids Collect for Kids Dec. 10
• Festive Choral Concert Dec. 9
• Yoga Classes, House and Pet Sitting Svcs.
• Seeking Treadmill
• Free Chair Massage Dec. 6
• House For Sale
• Seeking house, animal sitter Dec. 28-Jan. 6
• Awesome after school ski program!
• Rush Hour Traffic Concerns
• Sheepskin Products, RABA Fair Dec. 6
• Free Turtles and Tank
• Childcare Offered
• Seeking Family for young girl
• Table and chairs For sale
• Homeless Man, Neighborhood Thefts
• Seeking Missing Shoes
• Help Lonely Seniors at Christmas
• FREE DOG
• Ward 1 NPA Meeting Dec. 10
• Babysitter wanted
• Seeking Lost Wallet
• AWESOME HOLIDAY STUDIO SALE DEC. 6-7
• Local foodshelf
• Offer: Propane Hibatchi
• Offer: PDA Travel Case
• Family needed for young girl
• Jude Bond at 215 College Gallery
• Seeking high chair to borrow
• Hayden Carruth memorial recording Dec. 6
• Another Neighbor Joins Forum
• Girl Scout Bottle Drive Dec. 6
• Newly Certified Yoga Instructor
• Mary Kehoe for City Council
• Westford Girls Basketball
• Snow Tires on ebay
• Ski Films, Raffle Dec. 6
• March Election Issues
• House for Rent
• rowing machine For Sale
• Seeking Temporary Furniture
• Seeking Free Treadmill
• SENIORS HELP ETHIOPIAN CHILDREN – YOU CAN TOO
• Seeking Old Skis
• Studio Sale Dec. 6
• Bottle Drive Comments, Thanks
• DAYCARE, AFTERSCHOOL OPENINGS!
• Jericho Underhill Food Shelf
• ‘Kids Collect for Kids’ – Thanks
• Williston Farmers’ Market Schedule
• Nativity Exhibit Dec. 6-7
• Seeking room, apartment
• See Louisa Howard Chapel Dec. 7
• Winooski Community Chorus to hold Holiday Concert
• Winooski City Council Meeting Agenda 12/8
• Conversation on Race Jan. 7
• Embodyoga Class
• Nonviolent Communication Workshop Dec. 12-13
• Car for Sale
• Community Garden Plots Available
• Advent Calendar
Lessons for Social Software
I’ve admired Clay Shirky‘s work since first meeting him a couple years ago at a Personal Democracy Forum. Somehow though, I had missed his excellent 2003 piece “A Group is Its Own Worst Enemy.” So thanks to Rich Gordon for pointing to it this week.
Clay’s speech lays out commonalities across social software, pulling lessons from the past few decades… and pre-Web 2.0 explosion. It reads, to me, like a text book version of the lessons we’ve learned “the hard way” in hosting Front Porch Forum.
My wife, Valerie, and I started FPF in 2000 as a stand-alone online neighborhood forum. We leaned on our neighbors to help us develop the rules of engagement… some firm (e.g., no anonymity), others soft (like a generally civil and constructive tone). In 2006, we launched a network of 130 online neighborhood forums blanketing our pilot area of Chittenden County, VT, and continued to evolve our rules based largely on member feedback.
Some of Clay’s points from 2003 that strike a chord…
So there’s this very complicated moment of a group coming together, where enough individuals, for whatever reason, sort of agree that something worthwhile is happening, and the decision they make at that moment is: This is good and must be protected. And at that moment, even if it’s subconscious, you start getting group effects. And the effects that we’ve seen come up over and over and over again in online communities.
He cites some research too about groups defeating their own purpose by veering off course… three patterns…
Sex talk… the group conceives of its purpose as the hosting of flirtatious or salacious talk or emotions passing between pairs of members
Identification and vilification of external enemies
Religious veneration. The nomination and worship of a religious icon or a set of religious tenets… something that’s beyond critique.
And…
You can find the same piece of code running in many, many environments. And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. So there is something supernatural about groups being a run-time experience. The normal experience of social software is failure. If you go into Yahoo groups and you map out the subscriptions, it is, unsurprisingly, a power law. There’s a small number of highly populated groups, a moderate number of moderately populated groups, and this long, flat tail of failure. And the failure is inevitably more than 50% of the total mailing lists in any category.
Clay’s tips for developing and running social software…
- You cannot completely separate technical and social issues
- Members (“super users”) are different than users
- The core group has rights that trump individual rights in some situations (serve the group over the individual)
- Design for handles (similar to identity) that the user can invest in
- Design some way in which good works get recognized
- You need barriers to participation. You have to have some cost to either join or participate, if not at the lowest level, then at higher levels. There needs to be some kind of segmentation of capabilities.
- Find a way to spare the group from scale. Scale alone kills conversations, because conversations require dense two-way conversations.
Citizen Engagement and Economic Growth
From a Knight Foundation blog today…
Soul of the Community (SOTC) is a three-year study conducted by Gallup of the 26 Knight Foundation communities across the United States focusing on the emotional side of the connection between residents and their communities.
In its first year, the study compared residents’ engagement level to the GDP growth in the 26 communities over the past five years. The findings (overall report, reports by community) show a significant correlation between community-citizen engagement and the economic growth.
AOL webmail can’t send email to some addresses
AOL made some changes in the second half of 2008 to the way its customers’ outgoing email is sent when using AOL’s webmail option. One result of these otherwise invisible changes is that messages sent by an AOL-using Front Porch Forum subscriber to any FrontPorchForum.com address do not arrive successfully. So, regrettably, FPF will not receive neighborhood forum postings or requests for help made by email in this manner. We’ve notified AOL many times and have received no response. Here are solutions for AOL-using FPF members…
Post to your FPF neighborhood forum…
- Via our website. Go to http://frontporchforum.com and click Log In. Once logged in successfully, click on “Using the Web” under “Post Your Message.” Enter your message and headline and check your neighborhood forum. Hit the “Post Message” button.
- Via email using an email client. AOL’s broken software appears to be tied to its webmail, so if you use an email client (e.g., Mozilla Thunderbird or Apple Mail) you should be able to post fine.
- Using a different email provider If you have a non-AOL email address, add it to your FPF account (go to http://frontporchforum.com, click Log In, then Account). Then post using that email address. Free Gmail is one option.
Contact FPF…
- Using our website… http://frontporchforum.com/about Again, you won’t be able to contact FPF using AOL’s webmail.
We’re sorry about this inconvenience. It appears to be yet one more problem with AOL. If you run into this problem, please complain to AOL and ask them to fix it. Yahoo Mail has serious problems too. We respectfully recommend not using either service if you have other viable options available to you. Thanks for your participation.
Mega Local Sites in the News
CitySquares in Boston and beyond says business is good with advertisers’ coupons being hot.
Citysearch rebuilt its site. “Elements of the revamp include a more intuitive interface, an embrace of social media, a major focus on video, some new twists in mobile, and the development of a full-fledged local ad and content network that offers an alternative to Google’s dominant position.” –Local Onliner
Service Magic is doing very well, despite the general economic conditions. Co-founder Rodney Rice’s “6 Keys to Success in Local Services” via Andrew Shotland:
- Build supply before demand
- Choose the right vertical focus/right branding
- Execute as a service business, not a dot com (too true)
- Control customer acquisition costs – apply real business metrics
- Utilize technologies that make sense now – not in 3, 5 or 10 years
- Focus on yourself, not the competition (the best advice ever)
Angie’s List took in more VC money recently, bringing it’s total raised to about $66 million. And Shotland reports Angie Hicks saying “The biggest competitor in the space is ‘your next door neighbor.’” Interesting. In this light, Angie’s List offers another way to buy your way out of something you just can’t find the time to do… get to know the neighbors and have conversations with them. Front Porch Forum, on the other hand, is free and uses things like plumber recommendations among clearly identified nearby neighbors as a way to help connect neighbors and lead toward more vital communities.
And again from Shotland…
The thing I love the most about both Angie’s and Rodney’s talks is that they are both very much outside the local search/Silicon Valley community in some ways (well Angie did raise a bunch of $ from VCs and Rodney did sell out to IAC, but besides that), but they are both incredibly successful.
Easy communication among neighbors a right?
John Wonderlich at Sunlight Foundation quotes Steven Clift today…
When I was a child and my father had cancer, I remember neighbors coming to our assistance in our time of need. Today, with modern life keeping neighbors as strangers, we must use these new tools to break down barriers to community. You deserve the right to easily e-mail your immediate neighbors the morning after you’ve been burglarized without having to go door-to-door to collect e-mail addresses. We can balance safety and privacy with selective public disclosure of such personal contact information with an intelligent “unlisted to most” directory option that is not the all or nothing of today.
This is big “C” community and small “d” democracy. A collection of better-connected blocks, tied to broader neighborhood and community-wide online efforts will serve as the vibrant foundation we need for accountable and effective representative democracy right up to the Congress and president. You cannot force everyone to be neighborly, but the bonds of community can be restored and nurtured despite dual income families and the assault on time for community involvement.
Right on. We’re honored that they both mention Front Porch Forum. And thanks to The Pulse from the Knight Foundation for pointing me to this post.
About Blog
Ghost of Midnight is an online journal about fostering community within neighborhoods, with a special focus on Front Porch Forum (FPF). My wife, Valerie, and I founded FPF in 2006... read more
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