Broadcasts.com - "How Front Porch Forum is Empowering the Citizens of Vermont" (Community Signal)

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How Front Porch Forum is Empowering the Citizens of Vermont

Published: April 8, 2019, 9:30 a.m.

For all of of the convenience and value that tech companies and platforms provide, we\u2019re also starting to see just how much they take away. In this episode,\xa0Michael Wood-Lewis, the co-founder of\xa0Front 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:\xa0\u201cA 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. \u2026 It\u2019s hard to do that in the age of Amazon and Facebook.\u201d -Michael Wood-Lewis

On the pacing of discussions on Front Porch Forum:\xa0\u201cWhat\u2019s 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\u2019s instantaneous, it\u2019s back and forth. \u2026 There\u2019s something that doesn\u2019t encourage our best selves oftentimes in this rapid exchange environment.\u201d -Michael Wood-Lewis

About Michael Wood-Lewis

Michael\xa0Wood-Lewis and his wife, Valerie Wood\xad-Lewis, founded\xa0FrontPorchForum.com\xa0in 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\u2019s 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.