A screen capture displays the new Members Only forums on the McKinley Park News.Our pending exit from Facebook, Instagram and Meta has inspired launch of a long-percolating idea: our Members Only forums, a private discussion area visible and accessible only to our members.
This follows our foundational principle of prioritizing readers like you through not only the factual information we truthfully relate in our news and events coverage, but also ensconcing trust in our platform and business practices.
Privacy’s Our Product
Your news should not spy on you, and unlike Meta and too many others, we provide Terms of Service that prohibit sharing user information with third parties, refuse creepy Big Tech surveillance and support member anonymity and privacy.
We’re one of the few publications that’s always included local community features like forums, comments, profiles, polls and more. Most news abandoned their communities to social media long ago.
Social Surveillance
But social media extracts a price: Every access and action is grist for an ever-growing dossier on you: contacts, preferences, activities, friends, family, conditions, employment, housing, shopping, politics, biometrics, movements, associations and more. Your data powers an unregulated market that deceives and extracts for the benefit of others, no matter the cost to you.
Ads that target are just one result. Surveillance, manipulation and persecution are also products, sold to whomever cares to purchase.
Agent Infiltration
One of the most odious parts of Meta’s pending terms change is asserting its right to send fraudulent AI-powered agents into our membership: a practice we expressly prohibit.
Just as our operations are 100 percent human and zero percent AI, so is our membership community. We’ve always kicked out spammers, bots and other bad actors, and we’ll continue with AI-powered impostors.
You’re Invited
Our practices mean you can trust discussion in the McKinley Park News over social media, as well as outlets that deploy AI and Big Tech spyware, even local news charities.
Discuss Members Only topics and start your own, and enjoy our other community features like The Best of McKinley Park. All that’s required is a free membership or subscription with your privacy assured.
Inspiring Engagement
Many only read forums and don’t post directly. However, we hope to inspire member engagement by kick-starting topics and welcoming your replies and original posts, too.
I will commit to continuing discussions, and look forward to also sharing candid thoughts and general topics not necessarily bound to the McKinley Park neighborhood and our local news publication. Convivial and forthright talk follow our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.
The Real Internet
Despite the much-ballyhooed death of the Internet by AI agents, the real Internet still exists and is powered by and dependent on us: its true, human users. We originate all value and commerce, and the Internet is in our service.
Exploiters may tune automatons toward maximum infiltration and extraction, counting their audience as suckers in a death spiral of enshittification. However, it’s possible to choose to have real, human spaces, and the McKinley Park News is proud to be one of them. We welcome you to join us!
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