Cathy Resmer writes about a couple failed local citizen journalism sites today, the Winooski Eagle and…
iBurlington — “Burlington Vermont’s Blog” — a local citizen journalism site, launched in 2005.
Creator Brian Brown had high hopes for the project, which he modeled after the successful CJ community iBrattleboro. In March of 2005, Brown told Seven Days he expected to sign up more contributors and get more traffic than iBrat, if only because Burlington’s a bigger city.
But it didn’t happen that way.
She adds…
Front Porch Forum founder Michael Wood-Lewis was also at the [local bloggers] BBQ. FPF is a neighborhood email newsletter, not really a web-based tool, but it’s definitely succeeding in some respects where iBurlington failed. That just occurred to me as I was writing this post, and it’s definitely something to think about.
Thanks Cathy. I agree. Front Porch Forum seems to defy pigeon-holing… it’s not a blog, not a wiki, not a mail list… what is it?!?! I guess we should come up with some technical term for FPF… but it’s really just something new and different… and successful. While email is our primary distribution method currently, that’s not really what FPF is about… just a vehicle we’re using now.
In a way, FPF is hosting 130 group-written blogs, each focused on a neighborhood and written by a host of contributors/neighbors. Our most active neighborhood forums have 90% of the households on board.
Blogs are small, independent, decentralized, self-appointed, low-capital, etc, compared to traditional media. Well, FPF takes it another step, giving the masses an online platform to share their thoughts and needs with their neighbors through its neighborhood forums. So while starting a blog is much easier to do than starting a newspaper, it’s still not doable for many, if not most, of the population. On the other hand, anyone who can handle email can participate in Front Porch Forum and add their voice to the online conversation.
Front Porch Forum operates under the assumption that when neighbors communicate frequently in civil, constructive ways with all parties clearly identified, that over time all those exchanges will add up to a stronger sense of community. So while FPF members partake in many of the wonders of contemporary online social networking (buy, sell, trade, free, referrals, politics, organizing, reviews, news, advice, etc.), it all adds up to a more neighborly place to live… because all those folks coming at you through your computer are nearby neighbors who will be seen next time you walk the dog, sweep the walk, check the mail, etc.
Now this from Kevin Harris in the land of “Neighbourhoods” discussing a new report in the U.K. that…
… appears to suggest that the most important factor for people who expressed satisfaction with their area, was that ‘people are friendly.’
The negative factors were all about disorder… The implication seems to be that if you invest a lot in helping local people to get involved… you still cannot necessarily expect them to feel more satisfied with where they live.
Whereas, it would seem, were you to invest in people being friendly to one another (and get results from that investment), you could expect that to show up in your satisfaction survey in a couple of years time. Yet another argument for more street parties and new ways of promoting neighbourliness. [emphasis added] It does seem as if social relations and behaviour at local level are gradually coming to be perceived as being of significance.
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