urbanMSP

Hey all-

I believe I've seen a couple comments by more than a few regular contributors/posters here regarding the Minneapolis E-Democracy forum indicating it is not a safe neighborhood for sane minds to walk in even during the light of day. Not being able to resist gawking at a really good car wreck, I've spent the past couple of months following the activity there and have only this to say:

Holy Hell in a Handbasket, What a Shit Show!

Though clearly the same broad brush cannot apply to all individuals who participate in the site, here are my general impressions of what I've seen and I'm curious if my take on that very special place is similar to others:

- Clearly there are a lot of old timers there. It looks like there is a core group that's probably been there since inception and the site works out very nicely for them. Nothing inherently wrong with this fact on its own, the only danger is that it can lead to being a bubble with an 'in-group' that effectively pushes out a lot of opposing voices.

- It's a bubble that effectively pushes out a lot of opposing voices. Further, people in the bubble don't apply critical thinking to other 'in-group' members' posts. It's perhaps the clearest example of political tribalism I've seen.

- It uses an archaic technology best suited for its core demographic of what I'm gathering is white property owners over 40 (a demographic that I am part of).

- Despite its term of service, it is a hotbed of spreading rumors and innuendo bordering on defamation against political opponents. This is the main reason I will not become part of this site.

- There really is no fact checking. I don't mean in the formal sense, where someone(s) goes through and verify the 'facts' presented by various participants, but in an informal sense where participants don't feel the need to be factual or honest. This likely springs from the tribalism I mentioned above.

- There aren't a lot of facts, period. In addition to rumor and innuendo against individuals, it seems like a great place to go if you want to toss out assertions that not only have no backing data but that data suggests are false.

- It's dying. No posts since December 26th, and rarely is there much volume in general.

It may very well have been a robust, productive site in the past for discussing local issues...now, it's an embarrassment. I was just wondering if my take is similar to others.

I think it has neighborhood specific forums that are very rarely used (I bet NextDoor has taken the wind out of their sales on that front) but the real Cesspool is the Minneapolis Issues forum.

It was better maybe 15 years ago. Now its the same 8 people bantering back and forth. it's a relic from the early internet era.

"Stop making e-democracy happen" is a saying I coined on Twitter this year (i.e. stop linking to or discussing e-democracy on other outlets and it will eventually go away).

The funny thing is, many of those same points can be applied to this forum, to greater or lesser degree.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Does this forum collect any information on gender, race, age, etc.?

I’m guessing, at a minimum, it skews much younger than e-democracy, if not otherwise more diverse.

The funny thing is, many of those same points can be applied to this forum, to greater or lesser degree.

I mean, not really. Of the 7 points they listed, only two really apply to this forum:

- It's a bubble that effectively pushes out a lot of opposing voices. This is true, and deserves to be worked on, though it's also true of much of the internet in general.
- It uses an archaic technology. True, though not sure it's really an issue. But maybe that is because I'm ignorant of the alternatives.

Of the other 5, I wouldn't say any are really true:
-There is a core group, but there are lots of new faces routinely joining as well.
-For all the flaws here, it is not a hotbed of political innuendo bordering on defamation.
-There is rigorous fact-checking, for a forum. People hold each other accountable in my experience (for facts, anyway).
-There are a lot of facts. Most of the posts are just listings of new happenings.
-It's certainly not dying. Lots of volume.

I agree...I don't think there's really much similarity between the streets.mn forum and Mpls E-Democracy. I think the latter is what it is due to the very special and unique people there that make it that way.

It might as well just be Carol Becker's personal site at this point, most of the action comes from her writing long, fact free treatises that she's no longer able to get published in Strib or streets.

The whole crew appears to be migrating to https://www.vox.mn/public.

#shocked

Domain Name: VOX.MN
Registry Domain ID: D425500000085629568-AGRS
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.name.com
Registrar URL: http://www.name.com
Updated Date: 2019-01-28T12:55:34Z
Creation Date: 2019-01-12T14:08:49Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2021-01-12T14:08:49Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date:
Registrar: Name.com LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 625
Registrar Abuse Contact Email:
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone:
Reseller:
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: serverTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#serverTransferProhibited
Registry Registrant ID: C24150104-AGRS
Registrant Name: Carol Becker
Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street:XXXXX
Registrant City: Minneapolis
Registrant State/Province: MN
Registrant Postal Code: 55406
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: XXXX
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: [email protected]
Registry Admin ID: C24150104-AGRS
Admin Name: Carol Becker
Admin Organization:
Admin Street: XXXX
Admin City: Minneapolis
Admin State/Province: MN
Admin Postal Code: 55406
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: XXXX
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: [email protected]
Registry Tech ID: C24150104-AGRS
Tech Name: Carol Becker
Tech Organization:
Tech Street: XXXX
Tech City: Minneapolis
Tech State/Province: MN
Tech Postal Code: 55406
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: XXXX
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: [email protected]
Name Server: NS4.WIXDNS.NET
Name Server: NS5.WIXDNS.NET
DNSSEC: unsigned

>>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2019-03-06T04:22:01Z <<<

(Mod note: let's not dox her, even though she'd do the same to any of us.)

That's hilarious.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Yup.

Especially funny since it's incredibly easy to have your hosting provider register as the ICANN owner on your behalf to prevent this sort of embarassment.

Coincidence?

Hiding in Plain Sight: PAC-Connected Activists Set Up ‘Local News’ Outlets
https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/03/04/ ... ews-sites/

Especially funny since it's incredibly easy to have your hosting provider register as the ICANN owner on your behalf to prevent this sort of embarassment.

What, wait, is there some kind of embarrassment taking place here? Did I miss something?

Yeah, I'm not we should assume she didn't want it know that she's behind it.

First she tried to steal WedgeLIVE's name and is now ripping off the popular website VOX? Stunning lack of originality.

I think Carol is pretty proud of leading the "resistance". I don't think she wants to hide anything.

First she tried to steal WedgeLIVE's name and is now ripping off the popular website VOX? Stunning lack of originality.

If this bubbles up to VOX media, pretty sure there will be a swift cease and desist letter.