Non-toxic social network alternatives to Facebook

I had the good fortune to participate in a couple of Good Experience Live (GEL) Conferences in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Mark Hurst is an insightful engaging thought leader. He continues to write and broadcast on tech topics. HE is the owner founder of the Creative Good agency. https://creativegood.com/mark-hurst/

His Good Report has a post on 'non-toxic social networks'. This is one place where we can look at what he shares and explore the options to replace Franklin Matters on Facebook. Stay tuned as we explore. If you have any experience with what is listed, please feel free to share via email or comment.

"Here's our favorite non-toxic social network: Mastodon.

Why: Today's giant social networks make money on surveillance, manipulation, and amplification of toxic content. If you're tired of the garbage on Twitter and Facebook, head over to Mastodon: a decentralized, non-corporate network of Twitter-like servers. Without the constant need to monetize "engagement," Mastodon provides a more civil, low-key platform for posting and networking. And it's free.

• Web: joinmastodon.org

(On Mastodon, follow Good Reports founder Mark Hurst: @markhurst@mastodon.social)"

Shared from -> https://goodreports.com/post/social-network.html

Mark's Good Report also has a listing on RSS Readers to add to what I shared yesterday.  https://goodreports.com/post/rss-reader.html

For those interested in a deep dive into my archives, here are the collected writing for each of the GEL Conferences in (the links should still work although the webpages has been dormant for years).

2005 -> http://p4tgce.blogspot.com/2005/11/gel-2005.html

2006 -> http://p4tgce.blogspot.com/2006/05/gel-2006-summary.html

2007 -> http://p4tgce.blogspot.com/2007/05/gel-2007-collection.html

Non-toxic social network alternatives to Facebook 

Starting October 11: Commuter Rail schedule change

The new Fall/Winter Commuter Rail schedules go into effect on Monday, October 11th. Visit MBTA.com or pick your schedule at South Station, North Station or Back Bay to see how we adapted our service for better seasonal performance.

The Fall/Winter schedule maintains the same frequent weekday service introduced this spring, with a few changes to train times in order to factor in slippery rail and snow.

The bike policy has also been updated: bikes are no longer accepted on board trains arriving in Boston between 6:30 am and 10:00 am or departing Boston between 3:30 pm and 7:00 pm.

Weekend service remains the same and busing continues:
- between West Gloucester and Rockport on the Rockport Line to allow for work on the Gloucester drawbridge.
- between Littleton/495 and Wachusett on the Fitchburg Line to facilitate Positive Train Control Implementation work.

Holiday service:
On Thursday, November 25th, 2021 (Thanksgiving Day), Saturday, December 25th, 2021 (Christmas Day), and Saturday, January 1st, 2022 (New Years Day), all lines will operate on a weekend schedule.
On Friday, November 26th, 2021 (Day after Thanksgiving), Friday, December 24th, 2021 (Christmas Eve) and Friday, December 31st, 2021 (New Years Eve), all lines will operate on a regular weekday schedule. 

For more information on holiday service on the Commuter Rail or other MBTA transit networks, passengers can visit MBTA.com/holidays.

Fall/Winter - Franklin Line schedule

https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/files/route_pdfs/2021-fall/10-11-2021-cr-fall-franklin.pdf

Last Updated: Oct 04 2021 02:28 PM 

Starting October 11: Commuter Rail schedule change

School Committee Candidate: Meghan Whitmore - 09/28/21 (audio)

FM #619 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 619 in the series. 

This shares my conversation with candidate for School Committee Meghan Whitmore 

This is one of a series of conversations with candidates for the Franklin Election on Nov 2, 2021. I do this to provide Franklin, MA voters with accurate and timely information that they can use to cast an informed vote.  Publication of the answers or interview responses does not constitute an endorsement of this or any candidate.

We cover the candidate questions as previously developed in conjunction with the community and shared with the candidates in advance. Five of the questions are ‘general’ in nature, the sixth is specific to the role of the candidate. In this case, for the School Committee.

Our conversation runs about 11 minutes, so let’s listen to my interview with Meghan Whitmore.  ** Audio file -> https://player.captivate.fm/episode/82dd1ec2-2b4a-4e41-b6bb-8ee48051c801

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Candidate questions -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/09/election-2021-candidate-interview.html 

Facebook page -> https://www.facebook.com/Meghan-Whitmore-for-Franklin-School-Committee-106021458463361   

Election Collection 2021 ->  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/07/franklin-election-collection-2021.html 

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial. 

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

 

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

 

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/  or www.franklin.news 

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

 

School Committee Candidate: Meghan Whitmore

St Mary's Women's Faith Formation - Oct 9, 2021

The St. Mary's Women's Faith Formation group will be meeting via Zoom on October 9 from 9:30 - 10:30 AM.  We will be viewing a short video from the Bishop Barron series entitled "Conversion – Following the Call of Christ". 

During the meeting we will listen to the story of "The Woman at the Well". Here is a link to the Trailer provided by Bishop Barron on his Conversion series. It will give you a sense of what is coming. https://www.wordonfire.org/study-programs/conversion/.  

We are extending an invitation to each of you to join us. 

Please email Deacon Guy (deaconguy@stmarysfranklin.org) if you are interested in the  Zoom link contact information. 

All women are welcome.  https://www.stmarysfranklin.org/womens-faith-formation

St Mary's Women's Faith Formation - Oct 9, 2021

60 Minutes "a betrayal of democracy" leads to decision that Franklin Matters Facebook page to go away Dec 1, 2021

60 Minutes (@60Minutes) tweeted at 7:42 PM on Sun, Oct 03, 2021:

"The version of Facebook that exists today is tearing our societies apart and causing ethnic violence around the world," says former Facebook employee France Haugen. She points to Myanmar, where the military used Facebook to launch a genocide.

Find the full 60 Minutes segment here -> https://t.co/WU4IumjHkO 

Shared from Twitter: https://t.co/cy9Ed9MgbH

“The version of Facebook that exists today is tearing our societies apart and causing ethnic violence around the world,” says former Facebook employee France Haugen. She points to Myanmar, where the military used Facebook to launch a genocide. https://t.co/WU4IumjHkO pic.twitter.com/cy9Ed9MgbH

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 3, 2021

Note: this is a continuation of the revelations about Facebook since the  Cambridge Analytica scandal. in 2018  I attempted to remove Franklin Matters updates from Facebook at that time and the readers, followers on Facebook created an uproar so I stayed reluctantly.

As a data security and privacy professional I can no longer condone the Facebook business model. Effective Dec 1, 2021 the Franklin Matters Facebook page will go away. You are given notice to find one of the other options to obtain the valuable information shared but not longer directly by me on Facebook.

• You can subscribe via email to the daily update (an easy way)  https://www.franklinmatters.org/p/welcome.html
• You can subscribe via RSS and get everything as it posts (actually the best way)  The 7 best RSS Readers for 2021 (I personally use Feedly)   https://bloggingwizard.com/free-rss-feed-readers/
• You can follow Franklin Matters on Twitter  https://twitter.com/FranklinMatters

Someone can also set up a way to take what I share and share it themselves to Facebook. I have no way to stop that. Folks occasionally do so on their own today.

My personal account will remain on Facebook to maintain my family and network connections. I have limited what is posted and shared in that way and am willing to take the risk to maintain those family connections.

I can no longer take the risk exposing your information in this way. Facebook needs to change and only actions like this will get their attention to do so.

Why Dec 1?

The Franklin election is important and as divisive as Facebook is, for those who depend upon it for info, I will provide some time for them to begin to make their move to one of the alternatives.

If you need or want help setting up email or RSS, I'll offer to schedule a Zoom session (or two) to walk through the process. Let me know if you are interested via email or comment on this post.

Reference points on Facebook data leaks

• Franklin Matters attempt to shut down in 2018 was announced with this post ->  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2018/04/fixing-companys-problems-will-take-years.html
• Data leak reported in April 2021 (actually occurred during 2019) ->  https://blog.mozilla.org/en/privacy-security/facebook-data-leak-explained/
• Data leak in 2017 ->  https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/28/everything-you-need-to-know-about-facebooks-data-breach-affecting-50m-users/
• Cambridge Analytica aftermath -> https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/25/cambridge-analyticas-former-boss-gets-7-year-ban-on-being-a-business-director/

Mark Hurst's Good Report also has a listing on RSS Readers to add to what I shared here.  https://goodreports.com/post/rss-reader.html

012 - Frank Presents - Alan Earls (audio)

"In this episode, Frank Falvey sits down with Alan Earls to discuss his candidacy for Town Council, his background and the changes he'd like to see come to the town of Franklin."

Audio file ->   https://player.captivate.fm/episode/7a851838-0171-4ef7-96d3-ca1da3105550

 012 - Frank Presents - Alan Earls  (audio)

Veterans October Coffee Social - Oct 6 - 10 AM

October Coffee Social

Join us Wednesday, October 6 at 10:00 a.m.

VETERANS COFFEE SOCIAL  

Wednesday ▪ October 6 ▪ 10:00 A.M.  
FRANKLIN SENIOR CENTER CAFÉ 
 
WELCOME OUR NEW VETERANS' SERVICES OFFICER 
ARMY VETERAN - SHANNON NISBETT 
AND  
FRANKLIN BOARD OF HEALTH DIRECTOR CATHLEEN LIBERTY 
WILL PROVIDE COVID-19 UPDATES 
ALL VETS ARE INVITED! 
REFRESHMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED BY OUR FRIENDS AT STARBUCKS! 
Per Town policy, please bring proof of vaccination to the Social. 
 
 

Shared from the Town of Franklin page ->  https://www.franklinma.gov/veterans-services/news/october-coffee-social-0

Veterans October Coffee Social - Oct 6 - 10 AM