Archive for the ‘Community Engagement’ Category

Jason Dorsey on Gen Y and small towns

September 23rd, 2011

Yesterday I sat in on a live chat video interview between Jodi Schwan of the Sioux Falls Business Journal and Gen Y expert Jason Dorsey. It’s been my experience that most Gen Y experts either trash rural communities or show a lack of understanding about what rural communities have to offer.  With that in mind, I didn’t expect much from Dorsey. 

But after listening for about fifteen minutes to what seemed like good advice, I decided to use the chat feature to ask:

What advice do you have for small, rural communities who are trying to communicate the value of living of living in their community?”

Rather than bumbling through the question, Dorsey nailed his response. 

Market around lifestyles and relationships

In a nutshell, he said:  Since Gen Y is all about lifestyles and relationships, rural communities need to showcase those aspects of life in their community. 

Help people recognize how they can experience outdoor activities and enjoy a more relaxed pace of life.  Make sure they know that your school offers children a great education.   And emphasize the friendships that people build within your community.  And use social media (especially a Facebook Page) to show what makes a small town special.  (Hopefully, regular readers of Reimagine Rural have heard that before.)

Watch and listen yourself

Dorsey offers greater details during the interview.  I’ve embedded the Sioux Falls Business Journal’s recording of the interview below.  (He addresses my question around the 18:00 minute mark.)

Watch live streaming video from sfbusinessjournal at livestream.com

 

I think the video has more to offer, however, than just his response to my question.  For instance, Dorsey addresses what small business owners can do help maintain employees when other businesses can offer more money.  That’s definitely a message small town businesses owners should pay special attention to. 

I’ve not heard of Jason Dorsey before today, but I’ll pay closer attention in the future.  It’s nice to hear from a Gen Y expert who understands small, rural communities and offers good advice.

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Why does your community need to talk about cats?

June 24th, 2011

Have you ever attended public hearing on a controversial topic?  If you have, you’ll recognize the typical process.  First, a person from one side of the issue rises to the microphone to make their argument.  Then someone from the other side reciprocates. With each comment, tensions rise; too often the debate denigrates into a shouting match.  The end result is that nobody is “listening” at the public “hearing.”

Twenty years ago, such displays of disharmony only took place in face-to-face settings.  Now we have to worry about blogs and social media.  If you don’t like the stance of a public official on an issue, create your own blog or Facebook page and let the public official have it.  Others, hiding behind the veil of anonymity, will quickly jump aboard with their comments.  And the fight is on.

Every community, large and small, has potentially divisive issues that can explode into these shouting matches.   So, what can be done to reduce the chances of their occurrence?

There is no simple answer to that question.  But Michael Wood-Lewis offers some advice:  start a Front Porch Forum and begin talking about lost cats, yard sales, and babysitters.

Think Front Porch Forum

I’ve written previously about how Wood-Lewis has created an online tool dedicated to connecting people in local neighborhoods.  In a recent post on his blog, Wood-Lewis takes on criticism that his tool, the Front Porch Forum, can’t build “community” because conversations in the forums appear to focus on trivial matters, like a neighbor’s lost cat.

But Wood-Lewis makes no apologies for conversations of this nature.  In fact, he calls them the bedrock for building relationships and increasing people’s sense of ownership of their community.  He goes on to offer an example of a rural community with a Front Page Forum where one resident took county officials to task over road conditions.  Instead of allowing the topic to denigrate into a shouting match, however, residents jumped on board and turned it into civil discourse.  According to Wood-Lewis, there has even been talk about the community banding together for a “work day.”

Although I’ve not witnessed the Front Porch Forum in action first-hand, I’m a big fan of its potential.  And I think Wood-Lewis is right when he defends the seemingly trivial conversations as the base for more productive, serious discussions.  It just might explain why some pretty good community blogs don’t inspire more comments on serious topics, and why still other blogs inspire nothing but divisive comments.

If you want to grow a stronger sense of community in your community, it’s definitely something worth thinking about.

Photo credit: CesarOntar – Flickr

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Get outa town, exchange ideas, and build dialogue

June 23rd, 2011

A couple days ago, I caught some good advice on the Ruraltopia blog. In an article titled “Get Outa Town…,” Trent McKnight highlighted his participation in the recent Texas Rural Challenge conference. McKnight explained that he was personally inspired by Bob Dixson, the mayor of Greensburg, KS, which was almost completely wiped out by a F5 tornado in 2007. He also highlighted the great networking opportunities that took place in the conference hallways; people from rural communities throughout Texas shared ideas about their challenges and solutions.

It was his conclusion, however, that caught my attention:

If you want to do something great for your hometown, begin the dialogue. Share your challenges on this blog and get outa town to attend a regional forum on rural development. Only when we come together as a community of rural innovators will we be able to address and overcome our challenges and achieve Ruraltopia.” (source: “Get outa town…” Trent McKnight, Ruraltopia, June 20, 2011)

Get outa town, exchange ideas, and bring ‘em back for some dialogue. Good advice for kick-starting the innovation process.

Ten years ago, dialogue of this nature had to take place in face-to-face settings, like conferences. With the rise of social media, however, more of this conversation can take place online, thereby breaking the confines of our rural geography.

Be sure to talk locally

In addition to talking online with rural innovators from around the country, I would also encourage everyone to begin the dialogue locally — within their own community.

I’m often reminded of how the process for change began in Miner County. During our community vision meetings, residents sat down in small groups at the kitchen tables of their neighbors, talked about innovative activities in other rural communities, and tried to figure out how these innovative activities applied to our own community.

That process of dialogue is key. Not only is there Wisdom in Crowds, but conversation helps build stronger social capital, making it easier to bring about the changes we need in our communities.

And we could all stand a little of that.

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Reflections: Strategies to attract & retain newcomers in West Central MN

June 15th, 2011

If your rural community is serious about growing its population, then you need to develop a people attraction and retention plan. And that plan has to be something more than hiring a person to manage your community’s business recruitment strategy.   

A few weeks ago, I recommended that communities begin the process of developing an attraction and retention plan by asking newcomers, “Why did you move here?”  Both projects I highlight in that post – the West Central Minnesota project and the Gogebic Next Generation Initiative – began with this approach. 

But then what?  What does a community do after it discovers the motivations of people moving to the region?  How can they use this information to create a plan? 

Ben Winchester, Research Fellow with University of Minnesota Extension, has some thoughts. 

What does Ben recommend?

Ben is the guy who coordinated the research for the West Central Minnesota project.  He published the research in a paper titled “Regional Recruitment:  Strategies to Attract and Retain Newcomers.”  At the end of the report, he offers eight strategies for communities to consider as they develop a people attraction and retention effort.

The strategies Ben recommends fit into three broad categories:

1) Putting the region on the map strategies;
2) Employment strategies; and
3) Newcomer support strategies.

Rather than summarize each strategy, I want to highlight a few of my reflections on Ben’s recommendations.

Five thoughts I want to share

1)      Putting the region on the map is more than advertising. Rather than “selling” their communities to outsiders, Ben recommends that rural community leaders would be better served by focusing on how they can help individuals who are trying to decide if they can and should move to a small town.  In other words, give them the information that helps them make their decision.  Ben offers some advice on what information potential newcomers to West Central Minnesota are seeking.  And while you should use this as a starting point, I highly recommend that you start with your own research.  In the end, your effort will be more successful because of it.  

2)      Share stories about people who have recently moved to the region.  We talk a lot about the power of stories here at Reimagine Rural.  Potential newcomers will see themselves in the stories you share and will say, “I want what that person (who just moved to your town) has.” As Ben notes, this can be accomplished most effectively through social media tools.  But if your community is not ready to take that step, stories can be shared on traditional websites as well.

3)      Think regionally.  People live in or near towns, but towns are a part of a larger eco-system.  A person may live in one town, work in another, go to the movies in third, enjoy friends in a fourth, and go shopping in still other communities.  If your effort focuses solely on your town, potential newcomers will develop a limited impression of what life will be like for them in your town.  

4)      Business recruitment is not the only way to help create employment opportunities. Of the four “employment strategies” Ben offers, none involve recruiting businesses.  I appreciate that because I believe there are many other ways for rural communities to help create economic opportunities.  Now, if your community already has a successful business recruitment strategy, then you should continue.  If not, consider one of the more personalized approaches Ben describes.  Even if you are unsuccessful at helping each newcomer to your community discover or develop an economic opportunity, they will appreciate and remember your efforts to help.  

5)      Don’t overlook the importance of helping newcomers connect with the community.  If I had to select only one retention strategy, it would be to develop a process for helping newcomers connect.  We often assume that it is easy for new residents to make new friends and get involved in our rural communities.  But research in West Central Minnesota reflects the opposite; newcomers actually had difficulty connecting in the region.  Don’t make the mistake of assuming your community is any different. 

To be honest, we haven’t formulated a people attraction and retention effort in Miner County.  We’ve dabbled in many of the strategies Ben recommends in his report, but attraction and retention hasn’t been a clear focus.  Hopefully, that changes in the future. 

And when it does, one of the first places I’ll recommend we start is with this report.  We can learn a lot from our friends in West Central Minnesota.

Photo Credit:  DonkeyHotey – Flickr

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MinnPost: What are young adults thinking?

June 9th, 2011

Rural leaders need to listen to young adults and students who live in their communities.  Doing so will provide perspective and understanding into how young adults view life in rural places. 

Unfortunately, most of us don’t have (or don’t make) the time to do so.  That’s why the “Rural Minnesota: A Generation at the Crossroads” project by MinnPost.com is so important.  With financial support from the Otto Bremmer Foundation, MinnPost contributors are traveling across rural Minnesota interviewing high school students and young adults, garnering their thoughts about life in small towns.

The interviews and supplemental stories are packed with information.  For instance:

In Sandstone, MN, we meet Jacqueline Griffith who tells us of the push and pull factors that have ultimately lead her to return to Sandstone.

In Willmar, MN, MinnPost introduces us to twenty-two-year-old college student Abdalla Mohamed, who explains what it is like to grow up as a minority in a rural community. 

And in New Ulm, twenty-four-year-old Bob Martens shares the duality of loving his community and wanting to see it change.  

 I’m looking forward to future MinnPost articles in this series.  I’m not sure where the interviews will go, but I’m confident that they will continue to provide a great macro view of what young people are thinking. 

At the same time, however, I hope that the articles inspire more rural leaders to begin holding conversations with young people in their own communities.  Not only will it provide more concrete information, but it’s a great way to build a relationship with them. 

And we should never forget the power of relationships in the process of improving our communities.

(listen to Jackie Griffeth talk about Sandstone. Source: “Rural Minnesota interview: Jackie Griffith from Sandstone,” MinnPost, April 7, 2011)

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Homework Assignment: Why are people moving to your region?

May 27th, 2011

I’ve got a homework assignment for you.  And it’s going to take a little research. 

Last week I identified the 30-44 year-old age group as a potential sweet spot for rural communities seeking to attract new residents.  At the same time, I challenged people to do their own research and decide for themselves what age group makes sense for community.  The challenge begs the question, “Why do people move to your rural town?”

Many of us have general answers to this question:  It’s a great place to live.  Good schools. Lower housing costs. But those answers lack the specificity and details communities need if they hope to be serious about attracting new residents. 

I know of two projects in the Upper Midwest who are serious about attracting and retaining new residents, and they’ve been doing their homework. The first is located just across the border in Minnesota, where the Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission (UMVRDC) recently conducted a study titled “Regional Recruitment:  Strategies to Attract and Retain Newcomers.”  Although the region has typically fared better economically than rural South Dakota, farming and the “prairie pothole” topography dominate.   The second effort is a bit further away.  Called the Gogebic Range Next Generation Initiative (NGI), this project is located in Iron County, WS and Gogebic County, MI.  Although different in geography and environment – iron mining, trees, and low mountains dominant – we share similar outmigration patterns.  Like us, the region’s population peaked in the 1920s, and young people are often encouraged to move away.

While both regions deserve an “A” for their research efforts, I don’t believe it is cheating when other rural communities take what they learn from this research and apply it to their own communities.  To help, I’ll share a few highlights from my notes.  

Newcomers have different characteristics

In the case of West Central Minnesota, the study showed that new residents have slightly different characteristics than current residents.  Dawn Hegland, Executive Director of the UMVRDC, recently identified a few of these differences in a report to the Yellow Medicine County Board.  She explained that new residents:

tend to be well-educated with higher-than-average incomes, and are more likely to buy or start businesses, take leadership positions in the community, and engage in volunteer activities. Sixty percent of them had no previous ties to the area.” (source:  “Yellow Medicine County Doing OK,” Steve Browne, Marshall Independent, May 11, 2011.)

She also noted that some of newcomers moved to the region without having a job in place.  That’s an interesting dynamic worth further investigation.    

Gogebic Next Generation Initiative

Among the discoveries I find most compelling from the Next Generation Initiative research is a ranking of the “location preferences” that attract new residents to the Gogebic region.  Two factors stand out in this research:

First, because the study parallels existing research from the Michigan Cool Cities Study, we see that the reasons people move to this rural region are very different from the reasons people move to urban areas. (see image below) As the project leader, Will Andresen notes rural communities who focus on developing and promoting community assets that urban places have in abundance, may be investing in areas that their target market does not seek.  A better approach would be to invest in existing assets that attract new residents.  Why not make those assets even better?  (source: “Voices of Rural Wisconsin Part Four: Shaping a Healthy Future,” Portal Wisconsin,  audio interview)

A second take away from the NGI research is that people who move to the Gogebic region do not rank the need for a job as a top priority.  This does not imply that economic opportunities are not important.  People have to be able to make a living.  But it does suggest that communities can’t place all of their eggs in the job creation basket.

Are you ready to get started?

The West Central Minnesota and the Gogebic projects offer us a glimpse into why people are moving into two rural regions.  I’d be interested in hearing how closely what they have discovered matches with what you’ve experienced in your community. 

I also hope that you will share the results of any research you’ve conducted.  Having access to your research won’t eliminate the need for communities to do their own homework.  But it will give them a jump start on the process.

Photo Credit:  jsorbieus – Flickr

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Finding Windom: What a difference a blog can make

May 25th, 2011

Editor’s Note: Increasingly, community and economic development officials are turning to blogs as a means of communicating with their constituents.  But what happens when a community member takes on that responsibility?

That is the situation in Windom, MN where Mari Harries created a blog titled My 2 Cents:  Finding Windom.  I’ve been following Mari’s writing for around a year now, and I find it inspirational.   Not only is Mari sharing her passion for her community, but she’s building a dialogue about Windom’s future.  Last week, I asked Mari some interview questions, and she graciously responded.  After reading her comments below, I hope you will check out the blog.  Maybe you are a “Mari waiting-to-happen” in your community.   

Tell us a little about yourself?

I grew up in Windom, Minnesota, and while I enjoyed growing up in rural Windom, I couldn’t wait to leave after high school graduation with absolutely no intentions to come back.  During college I started to realize just how important my family was to me and decided after college to move back to Windom. 

I dodged a lot of questions from community members about my decision to move back and felt like I didn’t live up to these passive expectations to be successful “out there.”  It was a very hard transition after moving back to Windom, but after awhile I got more comfortable with my decision. 

Now, I live in a beautiful, old house near the downtown square of Windom with my husband and my one-year-old son, Henrik.  We enjoy riding our bikes around town, we enjoy the city’s parks, the river and lakes.  We just love Windom.           

Why did you start to blog about your community and what type of information do you share?

 I started the blog because I love two things: writing and Windom.  So why not combine the two?  Not only do I think Windom is a great place to be, but it has the capability to be so much more.  I felt there was so much potential that wasn’t being utilized.  So instead of complaining about it, I thought I would try to do something about it. 

I made a commitment to myself and the community in my first blog post that I would not only do everything that I could to make a difference in my community, but I would track my journey through the blog.  Not only would I blog the journey for others to read about and find inspiration from, but the blog would be used to seek assistance, guidance, ideas, resources, or anything that could help me in the journey as well.

I started writing about positive things that people might take for granted, like Windom’s history, the beautiful courthouse, the businesses, recreation.  I write personal stories about my family, my memories of Windom, my hopes and dreams for Windom and what I’m working on to make it a better place.

The blog lead to people getting excited about community revitalization.  I would get a lot of emails from community members, former residents, and classmates telling me how they have always loved Windom and felt it needed and deserved some TLC. 

What has been the result of the blog?

The blog lead to a handful of people coming together to form Finding Windom, now a non-profit organization dedicated to making the community a better place.  Finding Windom has done a lot of great things in the community and is working on a lot of great things right now and for the future too. 

 Since the inception of the blog, I have had the pleasure of meeting a lot of great people.  I have had the opportunity to do more writing for other entities as well, such as Minnesota 2020.  The exciting thing about Windom and Finding Windom is that the possibilities are endless!  And we like to have a little fun making our community a better place to be.

It is absolutely amazing all the wonderful support we have had from the community, businesses and even former Windom residents and Windom High School alumni.  It has been awesome hearing memories and stories about Windom and hearing all the ideas the community has for Windom as well.   

What else have you been up to?

My online efforts have lead to so many offline activities that I’m having a hard time keeping up with my online efforts now—a good problem to have! 

Since the inception of Finding Windomwe have:

I am so proud to be from Windom, Minnesota!  I can’t wait to see what is next for this little city that would.

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OTA Sessions: Thoughts from the pre-party

April 1st, 2011

Yesterday I caught a Tweet from @HughWeber saying, “Watching cuts of the spotlight videos for OTA. Seriously folks. These 7 vids are worth the cost of admission.” It made me laugh because I’m an extra in one of those videos.  The joke is you’ll get to see the back of my head.

While I can’t vouch for the videos, at least not yet, I can say that I’ve already got my money’s worth from the conference by attending the pre-party session last night.  The conversation was simply awesome.  Let me share a couple of excerpts.

First, there was the conversation with Rod Arnold, who is the final speaker at OTA.  Rod is the COO of Charity Water, and he’s also a Watertown, SD native.  (Go, Arrows!)  Charity Water is known for how they have engaged people through social media. So I asked Rod to share what he’s learned about social media’s use by nonprofit organizations.  He said “It starts with great stories.” 

Regular readers here know that we believe in the power of stories.  People see themselves in other people’s stories.  So telling a story about a resident who has a had a great experience living in your community helps other people see the value of living in small towns.  While Rod’s comment wasn’t new me, it was powerful to see a leader of an organization who has achieved so much share similar beliefs.

Second, while talking to Rod, Joe Fiala and Amy Howard of the On Hand Development Corp. shared a story about the importance of asking great questions.  Earlier in the day, Amy had posted a question to the Miller, SD Facebook page, asking her community:

 “What do you think should happen with the bulls at the 4-way? (Leave them as they are, move them to a different location, improve them?) Please share your thoughts and ideas…”

The question has produced over 60 comments at the time of this post.  It was clearly a topic people wanted to talk about.

Joe explained that they asked the question because they want anopen  conversation with the community about the importance of these landmarks in the Miller community. What a great way to engage a community in  decision making. 

And finally, there was the conversation with another of our OTA speakers,  Ellen McGirt, of Fast Company.  She’s been here to tour across South Dakota a couple times before, visiting a few of our fine “cornier,” roadside tourism attractions.  As a group of us a laughed about our first experiences at some of these attractions, I asked the question, “What do we need to do to upscale our tourism industry?” After some back and forth within the group, Ellen responded that she didn’t think we should try to “upscale.”  Her point was that these attractions are unique and a part of our culture. 

This served as a good reminder to me about our rural community development work.  As we seek to transform our rural communities through re-imagination, we should not try so hard to be something different.  There’s nothing wrong with being rural.  Maybe that’s why I’m wearing blue jeans and a sport coat to our conference today.  Wearing a suit and tie is great, but I’m not sure that’s me.  While we seek to transform our communities, let’s not lose track of who we are.

I could go on to share other conversations from last night, but I think you get the point.  And just think, the conference hasn’t even begun yet.

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Should you be using the Front Porch Forum? Or will Facebook Work?

March 11th, 2011

Yesterday, I highlighted the Front Porch Forum as a great example of a social media tool that facilitates the growth of community.  Initiated before the rise of online social networking, the tool enables neighbors to connect with each other via online forums. 

Here’s a video with its founder, Michael Wood-Lewis describing how it works.

(source: “Front Porch Forum Helps Build Community – One Neighborhood at a Time,” Champlain Initiative, Youtube, Sept. 4, 2009)

In the video, Michael describes how the Front Porch Forum is different from other forums of social media, like Facebook, which brings up an interesting question: Should you be using the Front Porch Forum instead of Facebook?  

Which tool should you use?

Regular readers know that I regularly encourage rural communities to use Facebook as a tool to create a sense of community among residents and to reach out to people who care about the community but might have moved away.  In many ways, I’m recommending that people try to showcase the authentic relationships that already exist in rural communities in a way that helps market the community. 

The Front Porch Forum is different in that it is designed for local uses only.  People have to live in the neighborhood in order to participate.  It is also different in that its central purpose is to increase face-to-face interaction among residents.   For instance, Erik Filkorn, from Richmond, Vermont, is quoted in a Yankee Magazine article saying: 

The real feedback loop is on the main street of town. You’ll be coming out of the store and someone will say, ‘Hey Erik, I saw the thing you wrote. Here’s what I think.’ You’re not just creating an avatar and hanging out in a singles bar in Second Life–not that I would do that. But this is very much grounded in the flesh-and-blood community.” (source:  “Vermont: Neighbors and Online Networks Local networks are bringing people together in Vermont,” Bill McKibben, Yankee Magazine, March/April 2010)

That type of face-to-face interaction is possible on Facebook, but I doubt its common.   

It’s about your goals

I think there is value in both approaches.  If your goal is increase the face-to-face interaction among local residents, the Front Porch Forum approach will better facilitate conversation among local residents, leading to greater face-to-face interaction.  If your goals also include connecting with people who have moved away from your community and people who might be interested in moving to your community, then maybe Facebook is your tool.  There’s no perfect answer. 

The point is, be clear about your goals first.  If you are, you have a much greater chance of success

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Front Porch Forum: Building Community

March 9th, 2011

A while back, a friend told me about an experience he had with his granddaughter and texting.  He was taking her and a friend on a shopping trip.  Except for the occasional giggle, his granddaughter and her friend sat in silence in the backseat.  Instead of talking, they were texting. 

My friend found this disturbing.  “How will they ever learn social skills if all they ever do is text each other?”  I chuckled and replied he should be thankful.  After all, he wouldn’t really want to know what they were talking about. 

Many people who resist technology think of it as a tool that disconnects people from each other.  In other words, people are becoming less social because they are spending time on their computers or using their phones for texting. If true, it would serve as another reminder of the decline of community life.  (see Bowling Alone for evidence of the decline in social capital)

For the most part, I disagree with this line of thinking.  And I’d like to lift up the Front Porch Forum as a case in point. 

How connected are we in our small towns? 

In 1998, Michael Wood-Lewis and his wife Valerie moved to Burlington, VT, a community of 42,417 residents. They looked forward to meeting their neighbors and participating in community events, like neighborhood picnics and other social events.  Unfortunately, neither was forthcoming.

In an interview on the Orton Family Foundation blog, Michael acknowledged that they have great neighbors.  They are friendly and caring.  But they are also busy, making it difficult for newcomers to experience a sense of community. 

In response to these difficulties, Michael created the Front Porch Forum.  Launched in the pre-Facebook days, the Forum makes use of “forum” technology as a means for helping neighbors “connect and foster community within the neighborhood.” Once a resident becomes a member, they are able to participate in a neighborhood forum by posting comments and questions about their specific neighborhood.  Members also receive e-mail updates highlighting what’s going on within the forum. 

Why do people participate?

People participate out of self-interest.  They want to know if anyone else heard the strange noise made late in the evening.  Was it a burglar?  They want to share their approval or disapproval with local city and school officials, just as they would in face-to-face conversation.  And they want to ask their neighbors for help.  Has anyone seen a missing cat or dog?

I discovered a great example of this in action in a NewGeography article titled “Online Neighborhood:  The Front Porch Forum.”  Written by Pete Peterson, it told the story of Sharon Owens who was trying to organize a canoe outing for her daughter’s birthday.  Afraid that she wouldn’t be able to rent the necessary canoes due to cost, she turned to The Front Porch Forum with a request for canoes.  Her neighbors responded with all the canoes she needed.

 I find it interesting, however, that something else emerged out of Owen’s self-interest:  she developed new relationships with her neighbors, which in turn led to a stronger sense of community.  She is quoted in the NewGeography article saying:

Not only did my daughter have a great birthday and I saved a couple hundred dollars, but now I have a genuine connection to a half-dozen neighbors. Why didn’t I know these good people years ago?”  (source: “Online Neighborhood: The Front Porch Forum ,” Pete Peterson, New Geography, Oct. 21, 2009)      

This example points out that people are social creatures.  We want to know and trust the people we live around. But life sometimes gets in the way.  While many forms of technology, like the automobile, have hindered human interaction, online social technologies like The Front Porch Forum can increase it.  The conversations that start online can and often are extended offline in real life situations. 

Technology can build community

The next time you hear negative talk about social technologies, I hope you will think of the Front Porch Forum.  And better yet, think about how your rural community can build a conversation online that leads to deeper conversation in face-to-face settings. 

If you do, I think your rural community will become a better place to live.

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