Front Porch Forum - not yet available in the UK, but there maybe equivalent services:
"Your neighborhood's forum is only open to the people who live there. It's free and requires no work from you. Simply join and receive occasional email newsletters written by your neighbors. Contribute messages as you like. It's all about helping neighbors connect."
Very high adoption rates are reported, probably in well-heeled areas where the proportion of households with an Internet connection is high. Would this work in the UK?
[23/1/2007. See also the helpful demographic and uptake information below from Michael Wood-Lewis of Front Porch Forum in the comment below.]
We've set up 130 neighborhood forums covering the entire metro-Burlington, Vermont (USA) area. This is a small city with urban, suburban and rural areas... various demographics across these neighborhoods... income, education, rental vs. owner-occupied housing, etc. Adoption rates average 5-10% in the whole, 15% within the city limits (after five months of operations). About 40 neighborhoods are in the 20-40% range and two are at 90%... not necessarily tied to income. Our site is designed to work for the slowest, most out-of-date computer and internet connection. Had an 80 year-old couple join last week. Working with low-income housing organizations to broaden participation with their members. Thanks for checking us out... definitely on to something.
Posted by: Michael Wood-Lewis | 22/01/2007 at 23:55