Idaho Falls Community-Styled Websites
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This is the second installment of a new series I am publishing every Monday, called “IF Onlineâ€. Each article will examine an aspect of our Idaho Falls area that has an online presence. The series will run at least four weeks.
This week I will call your attention to local community-styled websites. What is the saying about if you love something, letting it go, and if it comes back? I am sending IdahoFallz.com visitors out to discover the other local discussion websites.
I define local community-styled websites as those focused exclusively on the Idaho Falls area and to which visitors can collaborate and contribute. The word community comes from the Latin communis, meaning “common, public, shared by all or many”.
Why are community functions nice in a website? I think it’s nice to see others contributing for a greater good. I also think it’s nice to discuss issues with people in the Idaho Falls area that I would not normally meet.
I identify the following as Idaho Falls community-styled websites: IdahoFallz.com (of course), The Memory Board (of Idaho Falls), Idaho Falls Magazine’s (recently launched) Community Forums, and to a lesser extent the Post Register’s Post Talk forums.
The Memory Board is a privately run website, with sections for Idaho Falls and a county in California. Henry Christensen gave me a one-sentence summation of his site: The Memory Board is where you stay connected with your old friends and the community of your youth. The site has been active since February 2001, with discussions always being the focus. Anyone can freely browse the posts, however a free registration is required to post anything (a small measure to discourage trolls).
Henry says The Memory Board is “a place for sharing memories, news, and locating misplaced friends … a way to keep track of what’s going on on our old stomping grounds.” He has observed that many local memories include “fast cars, loud pipes, cruisin’ the gut, necking on Peterson’s Hill, foggin’ up the windows at the Sky-View are just a few things that every generation did (and still does).”
I encourage visitors with Idaho Falls memories to visit The Memory Board and add your stories. A lot of those memories were never published anywhere, and are usually only told in small settings between friends. Henry has created an opportunity to share those wonderful local stories with a much larger audience.
Idaho Falls Magazine recently launched a Community Forums section to their website. Nobody at IF Magazine responded to my email, so I can only offer my opinions of what they have created.
I am confused as to why they have created this discussion forum. They have a successful product with their heavily-advertised magazines. There really is not much money to be earned in hosting community-styled websites, and there can be significant time and legal liabilities in publishing other people’s words. I can only imagine they are trying to earn more money through advertisements shown on site, or they have liked something about IdahoFallz.com and think they can make money on it.
I am profiling their forums because the framework is in place for it to take off. They use a discussion-board software similar to The Memory Board. However, there are only 18 people registered for the past couple weeks, and I can imagine those are staff and family members. The maximum number of topics in any category is three, but most categories have no topics started at all.
At least one of the topics started is a re-published article by one of their “professional experts”, which are of course the biggest advertisers. So we have a community-styled site that has “conversations” of ad copy.
Quite honestly, I think you can count on limited discussion value at the magazine’s website. The conversations can get loud and raucous at IdahoFallz.com, because we keep it pretty honest. Does anyone think the Idaho Falls Magazine would allow people to post some of the things IdahoFallz.com has allowed in regards to Frank Vandersloot or other prominent local figures and businesses? I see them deleting anything posted that is less than a stellar statement about local businesses and figures.
I could not find a privacy notice on their website, either. For this and the previously stated reasons, I do not recommend participating in their discussion forums. I profiled them because they have the framework and are newly launched, and I certainly could be wrong about it’s future.
I earlier said the Post Register’s Post Talk forums (online since May 2004) are a community-styled website to a lesser extent. The PR offers comments in response to their published stories, and they do have an active (albeit small) group of intelligent people who actively participate. I have heard mixed opinions from Post Talk users, ranging from appreciative for Roger Plothow’s active participation to frustration that some reporters refuse to respond to questions or criticisms about their stories.
Two things keep the PR’s site from being truly community-styled. One is from community’s definition, “common, public, shared by all or many”, and Post Talk is only available to the maximum-paid PR subscribers. The second thing is that users may only respond to published stories, and cannot start new topics on their own (such as writing your own article on IdahoFallz.com or starting a new post on The Memory Boards).
The PR has a defined product that works well for them, and Post Talk seems to function well for the limited scope. Just do not expect to have full community-styled functions available to you.
To be fair, the PR site does offer paid subscribers other (non-community) benefits, such as archives going back several years and access to the Public Notices. They also offer some free information such as the current day classified ads (great for job hunters) and a Breaking News service. They have offered one (free) two-hour online chat session, but reading through the transcript, it unfortunately looks like it was mostly people complaining about what they don’t like in the PR. These extra features are particular to the PR’s site, rather than to community functions.
IdahoFallz.com, The Memory Board, and the Post Register have good privacy policies. You do not have to worry about your information being sold, and nothing is collected beyond typical visitor census data like your browser type and the amount of time you spend on the site. Idaho Falls Magazine does not appear to publish a privacy policy.
I will write a related article in a few weeks examining other local websites that claim to be community-styled, but I will demonstrate why they are really just advert sites.
Next week’s article in the “IF Online” series will examine our local online news sources.
What do you think of these Idaho Falls online community-styled websites?
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Comments
Vote:
0 
0 Joe, while I agree with your comments, how do you know that other media or others who want to create an online chat site for locals aren’t scared of YOU?
Vote:
0 0 I think the core products are different.
PR’s core product is local news, and they are the best at it. Nobody is touching that.
IF Magazine’s core product is a great looking magazine on a subject you would not expect: mid-sized town.
Their only competition, in my opinion, is the new Prospectus magazine. Even that is only an annual publication, and as far as I know is late getting off the presses this fall?
Vote:
0 0 Idaho Falls has several more magazines that are taking from the eastern Idaho pie.
1) Prospectus: After visiting with the publisher Ben Coronado, this magazine is set for printing in January 2007. Advertising revenue is coming in, but they still have a little more to sell to be profitable. This publication is annual and will focus on attracting new businesses to Idaho Falls. In 2005, GrowIdahoFalls and the IF Chamber of Commerce began working with Harris Publishing to do this publication, however because of the growth of IF Magazine, they turned it down because of time factors. The magazine is being printed by Falls Printing in Idaho Falls, owned by Harris Publishing.
2) Mainstreet Magazine (IF edition) and Ammon Magazine: These two publications are being put together by Bennett Communications out of Utah. Matt and Greg Bennett are both former editors with Harris Publishing and left several years back to start magazines in Utah. They have returned to start local magazines for communities such as Idaho Falls, Ammon, Rexburg, Blackfoot and St. Anthony. The first publications have been 20 to 24 pages and focus on business profiles. These magazine’s are mailed and printed from Utah.
3) Idaho Hearth: This magazine started here in Idaho Falls this past summer by a former Harris Publishing Employee, Melody Marler and her associate Brenda Price. They print four times a year and focus on home and garden stories and the building industry. This publication has finsihed their second issue last month. It is printed out of the area, but mailed from Idaho Falls.
4) 2-wed.com Wedding: This new publication will be off the presses in January 2007. It is an 80 page magazine that targets weddings and brides in Idaho. They are planning on it being a quarterly publication. The publishers are 2-wed.com bridal site that has been around for about four years now. This publication will be printed at Falls Printing here in Idaho Falls and deliverd around the state.
5) Idaho Falls Magazine: This publication is done by Harris Publishing and is one of fourteen magazine titles that they print. This is their only local publication, the rest are national publications. IF Magazine prints 6 times a year, and also prints the Idaho Falls Area Visitor Guide, Celebrate! Parade Program, Eastern Idaho State Fair Guide, two IF Parks & Rec Guides, and the Idaho Falls City Map. All of these items are printed at Falls Printing here in Idaho Falls.
Magazine advertising is more expensive that other forms of advertising because of the high cost of printing the final product. I do observe that many of them have web pages out there. The problem most of these local magazines will have with their web sites, is the maintenance. As “Joe Vandal” knows, it is pretty much a full time undertaking to maintain a site. This will be a lot for most of these smaller companies to undertake. Most will try and their web site will merely be a web page with little change.
Time will tell. I think that the addition of other community web sites will simply peak interest of people who may not have alot of computer knowledge and help them be for active in communicating via forums and bloggs.
Just my observation….backatya!
Vote:
0 0 That was an excellent comment, worthy of being an article on it’s own.
Thanks for the great information.
Vote:
0 0 backatya,
That was great info. Like Joe said, you coud easily expand your comments to an article.
I haven’t heard of the Mainstreet publication before this last week. Has anyone seen it?
Thanks for the useful and thorough info. I doubt few people understandd how much time Joe has DONATED to this site the past 2 years.
Vote:
0 0 I have seen the Mainstreet publication. You need to live at 83401 & 83402 to get the Idaho Falls version, and at 83406 & 83404 to get the Ammon version. The only problem with this publication is that a lot of it wasn’t really local, and mostly advertising. Great idea, but producing from Utah didn’t give it the local feel.
Vote:
0 0 There’s one section that Henry neglected to promote from his Memory Boards site:
http://www.the-mb.com/discus/messages/340/340.html?1184572482
His political cartoons are posted nearly daily. Be careful how you respond to them, though. I was a member for over 2 years there, but I recently was banned from posting over there, simply because I voiced my opinion about Henry’s sources. I never personally attacked anyone over there, even though I fielded barbs about my liberalism & atheism nearly the whole time I posted there.
I understand that place is Henry’s to do with as he pleases. The thing is, I participate in many discussion sites, & I lurk at dozens of others. The only times I see someone banned from a forum for disagreeing with the owner’s opinions are on conservative sites.
So I encourage folks to visit Henry’s cartoons, if only to enjoy his particular brand of “humor.” It can get quite, er, racy at times!
Vote:
0 0 ooh_child, I recognized your name from the site you mentioned, but didn’t want to say anything if you didn’t.
This may be a tad awkward or uncomfortable for Joe. So let me just say what was previously a reciprical situation with the two sites, has changed. I don’t really believe it is my place to go into details. These changes occurred several months ago. I’d prefer instead to focus on what you bring to this site.
I’m sorry you got banned from the site. I did look at it occasionally and know you posted for years trying to give links and other advice to others, regarding MANY SUBJECTS. As long as you are respectful of other people and follow the “community -generated” -AKA - the USERs at IFz.Com-generated guidelines- you should be fine here.
We do try to promote using the “I” word. If I remember correctly, you already understand the reason why an “I” statement allows personal views to be expressed, along with the responsibility that freedom requires.
Mainly we want to make sure all feel they can post here and are assured they will be treated respectfully, even by those with differing viewpoints. This includes comments in the chatbox or posts to articles.
Since I don’t want to focus on where you’ve been, let me just say I hope this is a more comfortable format for you. It’s good to have you here.
Vote:
0 0 I don’t feel any discomfort.
What happened was, some may recall I used to list all the city/Idaho Falls related links on every page in the sidebar. The Memory Boards site was obviously included in that list. Henry at the mb site was kind enough to reciprocate with a link to IFz in his footer, thereby on every page of his site.
The city link list grew long and seemed cumbersome to publish in the sidebar, forcing every visitor to load it when not everyone needed the information. I moved it to its own dedicated page where it still has lots of great local links and gets lots of hits:
http://idahofallz.com/linksidahofalls
So in due fashion Henry removed the IFz link from his footer, but I think he put it somewhere else. No hard feelings, just growth and changes.
I don’t know your situation or history, but I will tell you from personal experience that we who run these discussion websites do not relish banning users. We would much rather read and engage in delightful conversations. The only time someone must be banned is when their “contributions” cause others to quit talking or quit visiting altogether. It is a decision made with careful consideration.
On the plus side, I think we all recognize that we are human and make some mistakes (goodness knows I’ve made enough here). But we are human and can forgive, or at least just learn what we did wrong before and try to do better next time.
Vote:
0 0 Thanks Ok4Now for the welcome, & Joe for the explanation. I noticed that Henry no longer linked here, once it was pointed out.
I’m not sure why Henry banned me at this particular time; no reason was posted, or even given in his standard “priveleges removed” e-mail to me. I’m kinda disappointed I wasn’t even given a chance to say good-bye to the readers over there. I spent considerable time & effort in many of my posts there, rebutting some of Henry’s more debatable stances.
Anyway, I do know that the threads I participated in there were among the most read on his site. Maybe the same will happen here. 
Vote:
0 0 Joe, My error then. I apologize. Just thought we should get that info out in the open so we wouldn’t have to focus on it.
Far too many other, more important things to discuss.
Vote:
0 0 First of all, thank you, ooh_child, for mentioning my cartoon efforts.
Second, I don’t have a standard “priveleges removed” e-mail. In the over 6 years that The Memory Board has been in operation, I’ve only had the distasteful task of removing the posting privileges of two people. Each received a custom tailored email.
Third, no one has ever had their privileges removed from The Memory Board for offering opinions that run counter to mine. As ooh_child mentioned, we had many debates on topics where our opinions differed. All but ooh_child’s last two posts are still on The Memory Board. Anyone who cares is welcome to view the depths of my tolerance to opposing opinions.
Fourth, ooh_child did not, as ooh-child states here at idahofallz.com, voice an opinion about my news sources. ooh_child made the statement that I use but a single news source. That statement is provably and obviously false. Had ooh_child expressed that same sentiment in the form of an opinion rather than in the form of a statement of fact, ooh_child’s post would not have violated The Memory Board’s rules of conduct, and, as far as I am concerned, ooh_child would still be a “Citizen” in good standing at The Memory Board.
Fifth, ooh_child was offered the opportunity to recant the false statement prior to losing posting privileges.
Thanks, Joe, for allowing me the space on your site to address this issue.
Vote:
0 0 Joe,
It appears that Henry recently visited and left this post.
Well, I guess it is good that he still keeps the link to your page.
Have you noticed a few other Idaho Falls Forums being attempted in the past six months? I saw something, via a Google search, that essentially said, Your information will only be posted until Aug. 1, 2007. I didn’t know if there was another forum who had made an attempt to hold an open dialogue for I.F. area residents, or not.
When I clicked on it I got nothing - one of those pages you get if you are slightly off on a common address.
Just wondered if others had noticed or know of active discussion sites? I’m not sure how the posts are going at IF Magazine, but I do think they are collecting a lot more URLs.
I try to give most people IFz.Com and Idaho Falls Magazine as the most thorough site to get information and additional links.
At least 1 person, if not more, that I have gave this site too, from another forum site, observed for quite a while, then finally started to post here recently.
What sites do most of you recommend to friends and visitors when wanting to learn more about Idaho Falls?
Vote:
0 0 It’s slim pickens (no pun intended poster of the same name) compared to most other cities around the country. I did quite a bit of research before moving up here and I couldn’t find that much online regarding Idaho Falls. It seems this city is still in the “merge lane” when it comes to the getting on the information superhighway! 
I think Joe did a great thing for Idaho Falls though by starting this site.
Vote:
0 0 I don’t see a link on Henry’s page anymore, Ok4Now, but he still has links to other sites.
Henry, I know The Memory Board is your site to do as you please. I don’t understand why you felt the need to address my issues w/ you here, instead of your own place.
Sorry you couldn’t be more up front about our spat over there, & I’m also disappointed about your irresponsible way of accusing folks of exploitative intents without recognizing your own. Take care, anyways. I really did have a lot of fun over there!
*big hug*
Vote:
0 0 http://www.the-mb.com/cgi/discus/discus.cgi
curiouser says,”why was ooh_child banned? she/he is discussing that on idahofallz.com……”
This is why Henry answered.
Vote:
0 0 I’m not too impressed with the “Memory Board”. I don’t like the layout of things over there and you have no idea exactly what kind of post you’re going into unless you actually go into it and read for awhile.
Joe, you got a great site here. Simple yet effective. There’s no time wasted wandering around the site trying to find a topic of interest. Kudo’s to Joe for a great setup here at Idahofallz.com!
Vote:
0 0 I think it’s just a matter of what you get use to and comfortable with. Joe has a great site here, but I’m not use to it’s layout and so it makes it a bit hard for me to get around. Does this site have a way to search for something in an article or by a posters name? I can’t always seem to find my way back to where I was after leaving.
Vote:
0 0 I’ve looked at many different layouts, and there’s just no single presentation method that works perfect for everyone. In fact there are different ways to present information that generally appeal more to women or men, kind of interesting. However, I am looking at some better ways to present our information, but in the meantime…
You can find all articles written by a person by clicking their name in the left column under ‘Published Writers’.
The best to find an old article is clicking the ‘all articles by date’ right under the new comments section in the middle column, the archives have all articles by reverse date.
If you can remember part of an article’s title do a Control+F on that page to use your browser’s find function. If you still need help, just ask in the chatbox 8^)
Vote:
0 0 I just noticed that the Idaho Falls magazine did away with their forum. The new site looks great, but did they find it hard to keep the forum going?
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whew, slow day, time to all start commenting again!
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Vote:
I forgot two items.
One is if you enjoy the live chatbox on IdahoFallz.com, The Memory Boards has a similar one at the bottom of their pages.
The other thing is someone asked me why I would profile potential competitor sites.
I know one site cannot be all things to everyone, and you will find discussion flavors at these other sites that you don’t find here, and vice versa.
I also want to encourage more Idaho Falls-area people to engage themselves online. Sure you can chat at MSN with someone in China or India, but how often do you get to chat with someone in Idaho Falls online?
If I can help raise the general level of local online discussions and participation, IdahoFallz.com will also inevitably benefit.
Plus I’m not scared of anyone. 8^)