Podcasts about front porch forum

Vermont Public's general election debate series concludes tonight with the candidates for U.S. Senate, incumbent independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Republican challenger Gerald Malloy. The debate is presented in partnership with VTDigger.This debate is part of Vermont Public's Citizens Agenda approach to election coverage. We're asking a simple question: What do you want the candidates to be discussing as they compete for your votes? Front Porch Forum is our lead outreach partner for this project.Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Can social media bring people together rather than divide and deceive us?In the world of corporate social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, the notion of a nontoxic public forum seems quaint. These are places where political and personal brawling goes on 24/7 and disinformation flows as freely as cat videos. The platforms rely on high conflict to attract eyeballs and make money.Vermonters have another option. Front Porch Forum (FPF), co-founded in 2006 by Michael Wood-Lewis and his wife Valerie, is a decidedly friendly online place where neighbors go to interact civilly with one another, and do what neighbors do: seek advice, buy and sell things, and discuss local issues without resorting to personal attacks. The site is heavily moderated by real people who read each posting and filter out items that offend, incite or misinform. It operates in every town and has nearly 235,000 members, including nearly half of Vermont's adults.The discord common on conventional social media is “not an accident,” said Wood-Lewis. "Another way of saying people are attacking each other and acting cruel is Ooh, member engagement is up. We can sell more ads. We can collect more data to sell to huge data brokers who do God knows what with people's private information. That's the business model of Twitter and Facebook and all these others.”The idea of an online forum that builds community instead of dividing it is attracting national attention. The Washington Post recently reported, “At a time when Americans are increasingly disenchanted with social media, researchers are studying Front Porch Forum to try to understand what makes for a kinder, gentler online community — and what Big Tech could learn from it.”The best indication of FPF's influence is the way that it builds civic engagement. According to a new study by the nonprofit New_ Public, 61 percent of FPF users reported that they had attended a local event or public meeting as a result of something they read on the forum, over half reported that they had discussed issues with a neighbor and one fifth of users said they had volunteered locally in response to a posting on FPF.FPF, which is headquartered in Burlington, employs 30 people, including many content moderators. Wood-Lewis said that a “critical part of our model is that each member-submitted posting is reviewed by our professional staff before publication (which) is absolutely not how any other social media works.”FPF enforces a strict set of rules in its online public square, including no personal attacks. “We're not going to let people basically weaponize Front Porch Forum to do harm to our democracy, to our public health, things like that,” he said.Elon Musk, who owns X, and Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg insist that the unfettered exchange of views on their platforms is just free speech. Wood-Lewis begs to differ.“I do not think the folks you mentioned have any real interest in protecting free speech. They have an interest in amassing power and money.”Front Porch Forum “has felt better and better as the divisiveness in our national scene has gotten worse, and as the isolation brought on by the pandemic and social media and smartphones and so many different things in modern life has gotten worse,” said Wood-Lewis.Despite requests to expand to other states, Wood-Lewis insisted that FPF will stay local. The online forum proved its value by connecting people impacted by flooding in Vermont in 2011, 2023 and 2024 with help and resources.“As long as Vermont communities are struggling in significant ways, Front Porch Forum wants to be there as an ally and a partner.”

Though the current popular narrative about social media seems to be that it is harmful and has little or no redeeming value, the truth (which a lot of people know) is that it also has a lot of value, and the potential to be even better. A recent research report from New_Public finds some ideas on how to pursue that potential by looking at a niche, local social media site that moves a lot slower than the big networks, and this week we're joined by New_Public co-director Eli Pariser to discuss what useful lessons there might be to learn from "slow social media". Read the report (pdf): https://newpublic.org/uploads/2024/07/Front-Porch-Forum-report-2.pdf

Michael Wood-Lewis from Front Porch Forum joins us for this second (maybe third?) appearance to help us kick off our Good Web series, where we’re highlighting the successful people building a better, smaller Internet. Michael was gracious enough to have producer Mike Sugarman up to the FPF offices in Burlington, VT to give us an […]

This is a rerun of what could be called a VALENTINE'S DAY SPECIAL, and I hope you enjoy it.Last year on Hardwick's Front Porch Forum, someone called Tiana asked if there was anyone who could help her with her hair and makeup for an important date with her boyfriend. Front Porch Forum is an online, daily community forum, which is like a bulletin board at a local general store. You can find secondhand tires there. Or read complaints about the Selectboard. Every Vermont town's got a Front Porch Forum and you have to be from that town to be on it.Since Tiana's new to town, she thought she might have luck finding someone to help her get ready for her date through the Forum. And she did.Here is her original posting:Makeup for Special Occasion Tiana • Hardwick I'm looking for someone who'd be willing to do my makeup (and possibly hair?) on the 23rd of this month. Just something simple with my eyes and something to hide some red spots. Is there a way to make an illusion of a skinner face? I think thats a thing, right? I understand it's a long shot and I don't have much money. I usually don't like anything thats considered "girly". However I want to surprise my boyfriend for our first anniversary. I have a nice dress picked out with matching press on nails. The issue is I have no clue how to do makeup. YouTube tutorials have never done me any good considering I don't own any makeup and I have a very round, chubby face.Thank you for reading! CreditsMusic by Brian ClarkThanks to Tara Reese for finding the postingThanks to Tobin and Mike and RoseWelcome the Civic Standard!Thanks to Aubrie St. Louis at the Rehair Shop

Does your neighborhood or community feel like one where everyone has each other's back, or do you barely know anyone enough to say “hello?” Our guest today, Michael Wood-Lewis, is the co-founder of Front Porch Forum, a platform where 2/3rds of households in Vermont are choosing to come together with their neighbors. Whether it's finding lost pets, locating free building materials, volunteering to rebuild after disasters, or discovering a reliable plumber, the strength and bonds that are forming are a model for the future. Here's inspiration and possibility at its best. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro & Welcome 03:54 Front Porch Forum 13:27 Social Capital 16:30 The Circular Economy 20:00 Break 22:45 Trust, Reciprocity, and Neighborliness 29:15 Beautifully Vulnerable Success Stories 33:06 Shared Struggles Build Bonds 35:28 Everything's Local 37:46 Front Porch Forum Film 40:30 Social Contracts 46:31 What's Next for Front Porch Forum 50:33 What Do You Wish People Knew? 52:04 Closing

Sheila LaPoint wrote a post in Front Porch Forum asking if there was anyone in town who could turn her grandmother's fur coat into a teddy bear. She didn't want to spend a lot of money. She can't wear the coat anymore. But she wants something that will help her remember her German grandmother. My friend Clare Dolan lives down the road from Sheila, and when she read Sheila's post about the teddy bear, it called to her.  Clare is the maker of the Museum of Everyday Life, which celebrates the many critical and underappreciated objects we use in our daily lives. Clare loves well used and long loved objects, so it seemed like a good idea to help Sheila turn one loved object into a new object to love.  

Elon Musk's Twitter takeover has reignited a debate about the dangers of social media. It may seem like all funny gifs and nephew photos, but these days, many sites are also full of dangerous lies that impact democracy, bullying that affects the mental health of our kids, human trafficking, and drug sales. Andy speaks with Stanford Law Professor Nate Persily and former Facebook employee Brandon Silverman about whether social media platforms should be policed, the consequences if they're not, and healthier options if you're sick of Facebook and Twitter. Keep up with Andy on Twitter @ASlavitt. Follow Nate Persily and Brandon Silverman on Twitter @persily and @brandonsilverm. Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium.    Support the show by checking out our sponsors! CVS Health helps people navigate the healthcare system and their personal healthcare by improving access, lowering costs and being a trusted partner for every meaningful moment of health. At CVS Health, healthier happens together. Learn more at cvshealth.com. Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this show and all Lemonada shows: https://lemonadamedia.com/sponsors/    Check out these resources from today's episode:  Read about the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act (PATA), a bipartisan bill that would require social media companies to provide vetted, independent researchers and the public with access to certain platform data: https://law.stanford.edu/press/the-platform-transparency-and-accountability-act-new-legislation-addresses-platform-data-secrecy/ Check out the social media platforms Brandon says he's most excited about, Front Porch Forum and New Public: https://frontporchforum.com/ and https://newpublic.org/ Find vaccines, masks, testing, treatments, and other resources in your community: https://www.covid.gov/ Order Andy's book, “Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response”: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165  Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.  For additional resources, information, and a transcript of the episode, visit lemonadamedia.com/show/inthebubble.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A couple weeks ago on Hardwick's Front Porch Forum, someone called Tiana asked if there was anyone who could help her with her hair and makeup for an important date with her boyfriend. Front Porch Forum is an online, daily community forum, which is like a bulletin board at a local general store. You can find secondhand tires there. Or read complaints about the Selectboard. Every Vermont town's got a Front Porch Forum and you have to be from that town to be on it.Since Tiana's new to town, she thought she might have luck finding someone to help her get ready for her date through the Forum. And she did. Here is her original posting:Makeup for Special OccasionTiana• HardwickI'm looking for someone who'd be willing to do my makeup (and possibly hair?) on the 23rd of this month.Just something simple with my eyes and something to hide some red spots. Is there a way to make an illusion of a skinner face? I think thats a thing, right?I understand it's a long shot and I don't have much money.I usually don't like anything thats considered "girly". However I want to surprise my boyfriend for our first anniversary.I have a nice dress picked out with matching press on nails.The issue is I have no clue how to do makeup. YouTube tutorials have never done me any good considering I don't own any makeup and I have a very round, chubby face.Thank you for reading! CreditsMusic by Brian ClarkThanks to Tara Reese for finding the postingThanks to Tobin and Mike and RoseWelcome the Civic Standard!Thanks to Aubrie St. Louis at the Rehair Shop 

On this week's show:Adam's brief COVID scareBeing a republican can kill youWoodside juvenile horrorsA brief meditation on reincarnationDerby school threats in bathrooms and on TikTok An end to qualified immunity in Vermont?Decriminalizing sex workersMorristown rejects ATVsA win for the teacher's unionRomance scamsMatt's sad airport storiesWhere are we going to put the Afghan refugees?What is affordable housing?Break music: Double You - "Elevator Jazz" - Check out their music on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6HI570yBR9NKmC9ow7FB4N?si=6eoITmXkRUy-k7lvZd8icA Racism allegations at Frog HollowVermont artist on Texas banned book listThe silent majority not attending school board meetingsLGBTQ+ task force in Burlington schoolsWhy is the new Burlington school so expensive?We do not think SD Ireland is the mafia. They are upstanding and kind. Saint Albans baker in Food Network championship showMajor in ribsBrattleboro can't find a finance managerBring back McNeil's brewery in BrattleboroEx-Windsor principal has gotta leave townStowe fire chief has gotta leave townLet's get to the bottom Yosemite Sam's mustacheCinnabon - never have, never willDiner talkScumbag mapSolar panels good for beesUK needs more horse signageWe find out why Glo loves horsesChimps getting smarterMan kicked off plane for wearing thong on face looks exactly how you'd expectThanks for listening!Tell us what's going on. Did we get something wrong? Wanna run us down? Contact the show: 24theroadshow@gmail.com Intro/Outro Music by B-Complex

This episode shares a recorded talk from the 2021 Reimagine the Internet conference, a virtual conference co-hosted by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the soon-to-be-launched Initiative on Digital Public Infrastructure at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In six sessions over five days, there will be more than a dozen speakers whose work hints at what the internet could become over the next decade. Michael Wood-Lewis is co-founder of Front Porch Forum, an online community of mailing lists that serves every town in Vermont.

When Michael Wood-Lewis moved to Burlington, Vermont, he was excited to start a family and to meet his neighbors ... but they weren't as eager to get to know him and his wife Valerie. So – long before Facebook – Michael built a community-based social network. And not only did it introduce the Wood-Lewises to their neighbors, but it also transformed how most Vermonters interacted with each other in their own neighborhoods.Michael describes the events that led to his forming Front Porch Forum and how he, Valerie and their young family finally became members of the Five Corners community. We hear from Kathleen Cagney, a professor of sociology at the University of Chicago, who explains the behavioral science of social capital and the health risks of not knowing your neighbors (really!). We also meet Lauren Curry and Julia Andrews, who founded the food bank Westford Food Shelf ... and found a lasting friendship—all spurred by one message on the forum.  And finally, tech/sci-fi journalist Andrew Liptak provides a sense of the rise of social networking in the early 2000s.  To learn more about the podcast, head to  www.rocketmortgage.com/homemade.

Michael Wood-Lewis joins us to talk about Vermont's Front Porch Forum, the hyperlocal social network he and his wife founded 21 years ago, predating similar platforms offered by Nextdoor and Facebook. It ends up, as he tells us, that the secret to running a healthy online community of neighbors is healthy moderation and non-surveillant advertising.

Sponsored By: Panelists Justin Dorfman | Richard Littauer Guest Don Goodman-Wilson (https://twitter.com/DEGoodmanWilson) Maintainerati Foundation Show Notes In this episode we talk with Don Goodman-Wilson, from Amsterdam. He’s a philosopher-engineer experienced in developer advocacy, Founder of Katsudon.tech, and Board Member at Maintainerati Foundation. 1:18 Don explains Maintainerati’s mission and brings up a point about how to create a network of support among maintainers. 04:10 Don talks about having no insight in the Japanese open source community and the challenges must face not being able to communicate with others. 7:03 Justin asks Don what does DevRel means to him and he also explains what “empowerment” means to him as well. 10:26 Don explains what issues he tackled at Slack and GitHub. 16:17 Don wrote a post on open source about how it’s a bit broken. He explains how the current situation is radically skewed in favor of the business interests. 18:50 Richard asks Don to talk about what ethical implications might mean for open source and how do we fix it, work on it, and make it better for the developmental maintainers. 22:21 The panel and Don discuss how a maintainer, Seth Vargo, found out that his code was being used by a subcontractor for ICE and how ICE is currently having major humanitarian issues on the border. 28:21 Justin speaks about open source and section five of no discrimination against persons or groups. 32:10 Don chimed in about a talk he did at FOSDEM that challenged the assumption that open is the right thing. 35:27 Richard explains his views on academic linguistics and saving endangered languages and how to do it properly. Spotlights 38:33 Justin’s spotlight is tickgit (https://www.tickgit.com/) 39:15 Richard’s spotlight is Front Porch Forum (https://frontporchforum.com) 40:16 Don’s spotlight is Grape (https://github.com/ruby-grape/grape) Links Don Goodman-Wilson (https://don.goodman-wilson.com/) Open Source is Broken FOSDEM 2020 (https://don.goodman-wilson.com/talks/fosdem_2020/) katsudon.tech (https://katsudon.tech/) Maintainerati (https://maintainerati.org/) DEVREL (https://devrel.net/) Slack (https://slack.com/) GitHub (https://github.com/) Seth Vargo (https://mashable.com/article/chef-ice-seth-vargo/) Karl Popper (https://www.amazon.com/Open-Society-Its-Enemies-One/dp/0691158134) The Hippocratic License 2.0 (https://firstdonoharm.dev/) Special Guest: Don Goodman-Wilson.

Today we sit down with Michael Wood-Lewis, Co-Founder & CEO of Front Porch Forum.Produced by Taylor Kracher, VCET Associate.www.frontporchforum.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For all of of the convenience and value that tech companies and platforms provide, we’re also starting to see just how much they take away. In this episode, Michael Wood-Lewis, the co-founder of Front Porch Forum, shares how big tech facilitates connections between people, but at both a monetary and social cost. In this episode, Michael and Patrick discuss how tech platforms optimize for engagement, back and forth between their users. But Front Porch Forum optimizes for actual conversations, not just online, but in person around civic engagement, and for things like borrowing a ladder or finding a plumber. If we take these conversations back, what happens to big tech? Michael also shares: The importance of authenticity on Front Porch Forum What happened when local politicians realized the power of engaging with constituents through Front Porch Forum How Front Porch Forum creates the feeling of a neighborhood block party online Big Quotes How big tech removes autonomy from local communities: “A vibrant local community, part of it is a functional local government. You need engaged citizens, and you need a vibrant local business sector if you want to have a healthy community. … It’s hard to do that in the age of Amazon and Facebook.” -Michael Wood-Lewis On the pacing of discussions on Front Porch Forum: “What’s the benefit of rushing [to post]? On more than one occasion, I have seen a topic heat up in the neighborhood where I live on Front Porch Forum and at the same time heat up on Facebook or Twitter. I have to tell you, the tone of those venues is radically different. On Facebook or Twitter, it’s instantaneous, it’s back and forth. … There’s something that doesn’t encourage our best selves oftentimes in this rapid exchange environment.” -Michael Wood-Lewis About Michael Wood-Lewis Michael Wood-Lewis and his wife, Valerie Wood­-Lewis, founded FrontPorchForum.com in 2006, driven to help neighbors connect and build community. More than half of their state participates daily. Born and raised in Indiana, Michael graduated from the University of Illinois with a master’s in engineering and an MBA. He and Valerie met while working in Washington DC, married, and have been raising a family in Vermont for the past 20 years. When not working on FPF, you can find Michael hanging out in their neighborhood, Five Sisters, coaching youth sports, or enjoying Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains. Related Links Michael Wood-Lewis on LinkedIn Front Porch Forum on Twitter Front Porch Forum The story of Vermont’s quiet digital revolution How a Vermont social network became a model for online communities Escape from Facebookistan Transcript View transcript on our website Your Thoughts If you have any thoughts on this episode that you’d like to share, please leave me a comment, send me an email or a tweet. If you enjoy the show, we would be so grateful if you spread the word and supported Community Signal on Patreon.

At Empathic Futures Lab, we often put technology on a pedestal. This episode's discussion is about stepping back and trying to figure out how to get away from technology when we feel the need to. Colter is back with us as well this week. The episode starts off with Colter discussing this time in a sensory deprivation tank and what that experience meant to him and how he thought about "being." We then discuss how we can build off of cheaper or easier DIY solutions for that. Is there a difference between consuming vs producing in terms of overload? We then discuss why offices and coffee shops are different in terms of production? Often times, it seems we enjoy working in coffee shops more than offices... How does out attention work and how can we plan for that in terms of which environments we live and work in? Is this large number of  distractions a problem for us as humans? We then discuss who is best able to fix the issues? Is it the technologists themselves or our public servants or someone else? Do we needs apps to mitigate our app overload?  We then discuss Front Porch Forum, its article on the Verge, linked below, and how it gives an example of how perhaps apps can be beneficial to the larger community...though by perhaps forgoing revenue streams to do so.  https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/24/18129437/front-porch-forum-vermont-social-network-listserv-local-online-community  This leads to a discussion on what is "premium" engagement? What does it mean online and what does it mean as an "environment?"  Colter brings up Sea Ranch as an example of a "premium" environment: https://www.google.com/search?q=sea+ranch&rlz=1C1MSIM_enUS651US651&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiL9u7l4LjgAhWL5IMKHQUUCeAQ_AUIDygC&biw=1920&bih=938  We end on a thought that Colter brings up: "How do you make good design high volume, low margin"? Trickle up design: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yCh4_5i_5o 

Playing for Team Human today a double header of people trying to effect real cultural change in very different ways. Up first is cultural anthropologist, host of the 2 Dope Boys podcast, and consultant Philip McKenzie. Philip makes the case for injecting corporate america with the values of social justice by subverting the machine from within. Following Philip is founder of Front Porch Forum, Michael Wood Lewis. Michael shows us how the net can be used to turn residents back into neighbors. It’s a story about the transformative power of witnessing everyday acts of neighborliness. For more on Philip McKenzie, visit https://philipmckenzie.com/Check out Philip’s podcast 2 Dope Boys. Episode 26 features Philip's conversation with Douglas Rushkoff! http://www.twodopeboyspod.com/blog/2016/9/1/on-point-26-douglas-rushkoff-throwing-rocks-at-the-google-busLearn more about Front Porch Forum and Vermont’s “Quiet Digital Revolution.” Visit https://frontporchforum.com/and check out this trailer for a new documentary on Front Porch forum from https://vermont.twg.io/ Douglas opens this special double feature episode with a monologue on the reversal of culture and counterculture and a unique perspective on the importance of “finding the others,” – not just those like-minded “others” but even those with whom we may disagree. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.