In classic form, the Burlington Free Press published an unsigned editorial today following up a recent piece of its reporting. Topic? Local government should use online social media…
More communities throughout Vermont should make better use of social media if only to keep residents informed and engaged. More people are turning to online services such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to be informed (entertained) and connected.
Local governments must make every effort to be where the people are. The Free Press reports that connection is missing in many towns and cities. Many towns post information on their official Web sites. Some towns also monitor Web-based networks with a hyper-local focus — by streets or neighborhoods — such as Front Porch Forum. But these kinds of online tools are largely passive…
Yes, I agree that local government’s mission is well served when they make effective use of social media. But the reporting and conclusion about Front Porch Forum miss the mark. (In fact, here are two examples of past Free Press articles that reported just the opposite of today’s editorial… here and here.)
For example, in the City of Burlington, 40% of the households subscribe and nearly every city councilor, school board member, and state rep. uses the service. Most Neighborhood Planning Assembly steering committee members partake, as do almost all City departments. In all, 250 local public officials make use of Front Porch Forum in Chittenden County, our pilot region.
And their use of it is anything but passive. A call to City Councilors, like Joan Shannon or Bill Keogh in the South End, would have set the record straight. They, like many other public servants, make frequent use of FPF to engage voters about a wide array of issues.
Further, citizen use of FPF is certainly not passive… that’s who does all the postings… thousand upon thousand of messages are exchanged among clearly identified nearby neighbors through Front Porch Forum (as many of the Free Press reporters and editors should know from personal experience in their own neighborhoods).
“… these kind of online tools are largely passive” — that’s actually a better description of traditional media, e.g., a newspaper, where professionals provide nearly all of the content. On FPF, the content comes from your nearby neighbors.
Finally, “social media” consultants are a dime a dozen these days, and most are telling businesses, governments, nonprofits, etc. the same thing… get into social media and start screaming your message across many different platforms. Anyone deaf yet? It’s growing ever harder to get people’s attention and hold it, let alone to get them to contribute to a discussion. Gratefully, FPF is full of more than 15,000 local people, most of whom are tuned in and making a difference.
UPDATE: An update is posted above.
The Burlington Free Press picked up the Vermont angle on the study recently released about volunteerism…
Vermont and the Burlington area rank high in a new national study of volunteering rates, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service.
The state ranks ninth in the percentage of the population that participates in volunteer efforts, according to the CNCS’s Web site, www.volunteeringinAmerica.gov…
In Vermont, 35.6 percent of the population volunteered; the national average is 26.4 percent. The Burlington metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and South Burlington, ranked 11th among the 75 mid-sized cities polled for volunteer rates…
A volunteer coordinator at the United Way of Chittenden County said she is not surprised by Vermont’s high rate of volunteerism. “We have certainly seen the generosity of this community in giving of their volunteer time,” said Holly Reed, director of the United Way of Chittenden County’s volunteer center. “Vermont is a small place, and we are more acutely aware of what the needs are in the community.”…
The study showed 35.6 percent of Vermonters, or about 180,400 people, volunteered in 2008, putting in 20.6 million hours of service, according to the study…
Front Porch Forum is a great catalyst for getting people involved in their local community. Many local nonprofits have told us of increased volunteer rolls due to FPF… what a thrill for FPF to play a role in this important trend.
From USAToday…
More Americans became engaged in their communities last year as the economy weakened, a federal agency reported Tuesday.“There’s a compassion boom going on,” says Robert Grimm of the Corporation for National & Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and other service programs.
FIND A CHARITY: A comprehensive look at giving in the USA“Instead of people worrying about their own problems,” he says, “they’re thinking of others.”
The number of volunteers increased 2% from 60.8 million in 2007 to 61.8 million in 2008, according to the agency’s 2009 Volunteering In America report, based on annual Census Bureau surveys. Among young adults (16 to 24), the number of volunteers increased 5.7%. On average, 26% of Americans continued to donate their time.
The findings contrast with data from the Giving USA Foundation showing a decline in charitable giving for the first time since 1987.
Two forms of volunteerism jumped sharply: the number of people who worked with neighbors to solve a local problem rose 31% from 2007 to 2008, and the number of people who attended community meetings rose 17% last year.
“This report suggests that Americans are responding to the hardship around them by reaching out in service to others, giving their time when they cannot give their money,” first lady Michelle Obama said in a statement.
More non-profit groups rely on volunteers as 80% report significant economic stress, according to a Johns Hopkins University survey.
Grimm says volunteering helps people develop skills and feel valuable…
Volunteering tends to be highest in midsize cities, particularly in the Midwest.
“We’re at the beginning of a generosity high, a sense that we can make a difference,” says Claire Gaudiani, historian of philanthropy at New York University.
Check volunteering in your state at www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/find.cfm
UPDATE: The Vermont angle… click here.
Good for Patrick and Tracy…
The husband-and-wife team of Patrick Sand and Tracy Record run WestSeattleBlog.com. She is the site’s the primary reporter and editor, while he handles advertising sales and business development. Since January 2006, the pair have covered the bedroom community of West Seattle (over 65,000 residents) seven days a week, 365 days a year. They started selling ads about a year later. The site now has about 60 advertisers and brings in enough to support the couple and their teenage son, and to pay for occasional freelancers. Next on the agenda: hiring a Saturday editor so they get a day off. We spoke with Tracy earlier this week.
Read the full story.
Front Porch Forum Raffle Time! Did you know that it’s been 400 years since the first European laid eyes on our fair lake? Help mark the occasion… fill in the two blanks in the following sentence and post it to your FPF neighborhood forum to enter our raffle…
If I had a _________ for every year since Samuel de Champlain first saw Lake Champlain, I’d have _________.
Do it for fun. Do it for your love of our lake. Do it for a chance to win a prize. Or do it to help enliven your FPF neighborhood forum… But do it by July 1! Here are two efforts…
If I had a PENNY for every year since Samuel de Champlain first saw Lake Champlain, I’d have FOUR DOLLARS.
If I had an INCH OF RAIN for every year since Samuel de Champlain first saw Lake Champlain, I’d have OUR WET SUMMER OF 2009.
FPF members… copy and paste the unfinished sentence into a new email message and fill in the two blanks. Email it to [FPFneighborhoodforumname]@frontporchforum.com or post it via the web by going to http://frontporchforum.com/home, logging in, then clicking Post a Message: Using the Web.
Enter (multiple times if you like) on or before July 1, 2009. Act FAST! Bonus points if your entry has something to do with your neighborhood/town. Prizes as follows (one pair of tickets to each of the following events will be awarded):
July 5 – The Roots
July 5/6/7 – Only Drunks & Children Tell the Truth
July 7 – King Sunny Ade
July 8 – Counterpoint
July 9/10/11 – Territoires Feminins
July 11 – Ween
July 12 – Water Music
July 13/14 – Aurelia’s Oratorio
Thanks to our sponsors: Higher Ground, Burlington International Waterfront Festival and Burlington City Arts! Learn more about the Quadricentennial at http://www.celebratechamplain.org
UPDATE: See the eight winners and many of the other entries!
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