Yearly Archives: 2012
Seeking ophthalmologist recommendations near Burlington
#BTV #VT – Posted by David on his FPF today…
I asked on the Shelburne Front Porch Forum if anyone had experience with ophthalmologists and cataract surgery in the Burlington area and quickly got eight responses, all of them extremely helpful. What a good resource…
Tapping the power of neighbors…
#VT – Thanks to all who responded to my plant sale last week. I had no idea how powerful Front Porch Forum is! I got 10 responses, and sold out all but a couple of Montauk Daisies and Rose of Sharons.
That’s from Dick on the South Hero FPF today.
22% of U.S. adults not online
From TechCrunch today…
Internet adoption among U.S. adults increased rapidly from the mid-’90s to about 2005. Since then, though, the number of adult Internet users has remained almost stable at around 75 to 80%. The Pew Internet & American Life Project’s latest poll shows that this trend continued in 2011. Those who are online use the Internet more than ever before, but about one in five U.S. adults is simply not online.
According to this report, “senior citizens, those who prefer to take our interviews in Spanish rather than English, adults with less than a high school education, and those living in households earning less than $30,000 per year are the least likely adults to have Internet access.” Age, household income and education have remained the strongest positive predictors of Internet use since Pew started tracking these numbers…
Man in the Google Glasses inhabiting comfortable, full-service cage?
Ross Douthat took on Google Glasses in yesterday’s New York Times…
The Man in the Google Glasses can find his way effortlessly through the mazes of Manhattan; he can photograph anything he sees; he can make an impulse purchase from any corner of the world.
But the video also captures the sense of isolation that coexists with our technological mastery. The Man in the Google Glasses lives alone, in a drab, impersonal apartment. He meets a friend for coffee, but the video cuts away from this live interaction, leaping ahead to the moment when he snaps a photo of some “cool” graffiti and shares it online. He has a significant other, but she’s far enough away that when sunset arrives, he climbs up on a roof and shares it with her via video, while she grins from a window at the bottom of his field of vision.
He is, in other words, a characteristic 21st-century American, more electronically networked but more personally isolated than ever before.
We may be a couple years away from implanting newborns with chips… Google Glasses will seem as quaint as a horse and buggy.
Check out Google’s video… and then take a look at some of the parodies.
Does Facebook make you sick?
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.
Space heater flood in her inbox…
#VT – From Jessica in South Hero today on her Front Porch Forum in response to the request she posted on FPF…
The cause of the flood is an abundance of generous and helpful neighbors living in the Champlain Islands…
Less than 16 hours (half of which we have been sleeping) and I have been offered 12+ heaters already!!
Thank you, Islanders!
72% of Americans follow local news closely
According to a new Pew study released yesterday 72% of Americans follow local news closely. Some interesting tidbits…
Nearly three quarters (72%) of adults are quite attached to following local news and information, and local newspapers are by far the source they rely on for much of the local information they need. In fact, local news enthusiasts are substantially more wedded to their local newspapers than others. They are much more likely than others to say that if their local newspaper vanished, it would have a major impact on their ability to get the local information they want.
It seems likely that Front Porch Forum members draw more from this portion of the population as well. In Burlington, Vt., for example, FPF has 10,000 members out of the 16,000 households in the city. More from Pew…
Local news consumers are more connected to their communities than others, both in length of time in the community and in their connection with neighbors, and more likely to think they can improve their communities. Roughly three in 10 have lived in their community 20 years or longer (32% vs. 20% of others), and thus not surprisingly are more likely to know all of their neighbors. This is driven largely by local news enthusiasts age 40 and older. As a whole, local news enthusiasts are also slightly more likely than other adults to believe they can have a big impact on making their community a better place to live.
Less than half of these local news enthusiasts use online social networking (6% less than other adults), and less than 1 in 10 use Twitter, although 78% use email and the internet…
Pew states that these local news enthusiasts know their neighbors more than others…
And that they believe more than others that they can have a positive impact on the place where they live…
Out of Pew’s sample, 7% of the local news hounds reported using neighborhood e-newsletters…
Making Vermont towns more transparent and engaged
#VT – As Front Porch Forum expands across Vermont, we occasionally run into local conflicts around transparency. In some cases it pits old guard town fathers and mothers who have run things their way for generations vs. citizens who want to know what’s going on, how decisions are being made, and how they might get involved.
Some local officials embrace the enhanced citizen interest that FPF can bring, while others resist or even reject it wholly. We had a selectboard and town manager withdraw from their town’s FPF in southern Vermont recently because their constituents were using their FPF to raise uncomfortable questions. They also decided to warn their public meetings at the last possible moment mandated by state law. In a different community, the town manager is taking a beating via FPF on local budget issues, but he tells me he’d much rather hear from his critics and be able to address their points — which he does via FPF — than not.
We see a similar pattern with citizens. Most see the value in more local discussion on the variety of topics that FPF engenders. But others grow frustrated when they read viewpoints that run counter to theirs… and unfortunately a small number quit. We see this from both the left and right of the political spectrum. We encourage folks not to retreat into their respective echo chambers, but to stay engaged with their neighbors. But it’s not simple or easy.
We’re eager to work with local public officials and citizens to help them get the most out of their FPF. We celebrate where this seems to be working well. We appreciate Jim, for example, for his FPF posting today…
Thanks to Front Porch Forum for making Hinesburg a more transparent town.
Oliver the Cat… Rethinking the Concept of Community in Jonesville
#VT – Gary shared the following on the Richmond Front Porch Forum last week…
If you ever go to the Jonesville post office, you’ve noticed a friendly cat there the last few months. Oliver was a stray who started hanging around and the folks in the post office and the antique store kindly started feeding him and giving him a place to rest.
Unfortunately one day recently it was noticed that Oliver was limping badly. He was taken to the vet and discovered he had broken bones, most likely from being hit by a car.
The McEvoys from the Antique store have been caring for him. He now has a cast on his leg, and a huge bill at the vet. If a bunch of people contribute a little cash to help Oliver out, that would be great.
The post office building has daily updates and photos of Oliver’s condition and progress. I took snapshots of the updates and posted them here: http://solarbus.org/oliver
And today Thom weighed in with…
Oliver is very thankful for the many generous donations we’ve accepted on his behalf. In addition to a shopping bag full of food and treats, a large stash of home-grown catnip and a few toys, we’ve raised $824.06! Dozens have given.
Gary’s webpage on Oliver has hugely expanded the population of those who know about Oliver. Just today, while returning from a visit with her father in Bennington, Hallie received two calls from out-of-state folks asking how they could donate to ‘The Oliver Fund.’ And more than a few others showed up at the store with donations.
In all honesty I’ve never been much of a ‘community-oriented’ person (although I am a sucker for pets, especially cats). But the response to Oliver has been so overwhelming it has forced me to rethink the concept of ‘community,’ especially when one of its own is in need…
Supporting Community Conversations
#VT #BTV – Thanks to all of our Front Porch Forum Supporting Members. Their contributions help us cover the costs associated with delivering our service to the 70 Vermont towns that we cover.
Please consider joining them by making a contribution today… click here. Thank you!
– Michael and the FPF team
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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