Forum Connects the Country Folk

The Forum of Deerfield, N.H. recently received honorable mention for citizen media from the Knight-Batten foundation. Since its inception two years ago, the Web site has become a major news source for a rural area with no previous news source. While the site’s design is not captivating, it is undoubtedly useful for its residents.  The site provides helpful information on local happenings for locals in a clear, concise and easy-to-follow manner. The left-hand column has sections categorized by news, perspectives, ACES, milestones, Deerfield fair, sections and picture gallery. News is broken down into business, youth and geographical area- Candia, Deerfield, Northwood and Nottingham. On the left, there are ads, and in the center, front page news, which is also offered in an RSS feed.

But what really impressed me was the perspectives section. Perspectives allows rural users to form a virtual community by discussing a myriad of issues and opinions- and they definitely do. The section is divided into voices, editorials, opinions, letters, picks & opinions and poll results. The site’s users comment frequently and often on random topics. The unrelated and highly enthusiastic comments were highly enjoyable as a reader, despite my distanced location. Picks is the only time the moderators actually step in and post the top five hits of the week. Even on this portion of the site, users are allowed to comment, supposedly on the picks of the week. But, like the other perspectives sections, the picks’ opinions come at random and in bulk.

http://www.forumhome.org/