Urban75
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Urban75 (also sometimes referred to as u75 or urban) is a Brixton-based website and messageboard. It was founded in 1995 and includes various content (photographs, games etc), as well as lively and topical bulletin boards.
History
Urban75 initially originated from a football comic that started in 1991 as a reaction against the media's near-rabid misrepresentation of Cardiff City F.C. fans. The first issue sold out in three hours and at one point became the fastest-selling small press comic in the UK.
From here, a Football Fans Against The Criminal Justice Act campaign started in 1994. The campaign received large amounts of exposure in the media, and in May 1995 a helper on the campaign from Brighton put together the first version of the Urban75 site, using a modem donated by The Levellers.
The first bulletin boards appeared in 1996, when the site was still largely based around Cardiff City F.C., but were soon abused by users and quickly taken down. Gradually, as the site expanded into areas other than football and protest, it grew in popularity and was moved to a different, bigger server. In December 2000, the current version of the bulletin boards were launched, using Ultimate Bulletin Board and subsequently vBulletin. The bulletin boards increased rapidly in membership during the 2000 Mayday riots.
While the site has a diverse readership, it is sometimes regarded as being dominated by anarchists. A poll on the boards conducted during September 2005 showed 80% of respondents describing their politics as "socialist", with 10% "liberal" and the remainder "conservative" or "fascist".[1]
Site Content
Action
The 'Action' section of the site contains an events diary, information, articles, reports and photos from various protests and marches.
Photography
Urban75 features around 3,500 original photographs, mostly taken by the site's owner. There are galleries of Brixton, London, New York, Chicago, Brighton, and Wales, as well as various 360º panoramas and photography tutorials.
Drugs
The drugs information section of the site calls itself a 'bullshit free guide'. There is information on most well-known drugs available, with the aim of being honest about their effects and legality, "'neither condemning nor condoning drug use'. The site says the infomation "is for people to access the facts and make their own, informed decisions."
Games
The site features dozens of 'useless' games, made by various web designers. The section revels in the fact that many games are pointless and have no meaning (such as 'The DOT-CLICKING game' and 'The Curious Thingy!'). The most popular games are:
- Mr Insult - a series of games based on a character who swears frequently
- The Cossack - games with a mysterious Soviet character
- Punch a Celeb - a hugely popular section where images of nominated celebrities are clicked on and are, supposedly, punched.
Football
Football remains a solid part of the site, with articles and features on recent cup competitions as well information on the Criminal Justice Act and original strips from the Bluebird Jones comic.
The Boards
The bulletin boards have grown into a hugely popular community, with around 20,000 registered members, although only a fraction of which are active posters. It is ranked as the 406th biggest forum on the internet by big-boards.com. At present, there are around a quarter of a million page impressions each day, with at least 5,000 new posts daily. There are currently 26 sub forums covering a range of topics. Some of the most notable forums are:
Drugs
A forum for open and honest discussion and advice about drugs. Some members are frequent drug users or addicts, and there have been several astonishingly frank and fascinating threads where users have spoken openly and candidly about their experiences. Whilst not directly advocating drugtaking, naturally the open nature of discussion can lead to evangelism and boasting about specific experiences, but the level of honesty in discussing such matters is second to none. Worth noting is the fact that several genuinely suicidal posters have actually been saved from death or serious harm, in both the UK and USA, by quick thinking U75 moderators with access to IP address information.
Politics And Protest (P&P)
This is a collection of five sub-forums (often including a sixth for topical issues such as elections, conflict etc). This is where the main political debate takes place, and where discussion used to be extremely heated and lively.
Suburban75
Suburban75 is the forum for all things domesticated, and features discussion on topics such as cooking and recipes, gardening and DIY. It is generally considered to be the friendliest forum on the boards, and has spawned a knitting club.
The Dustbin
If, as is often the case, a thread quickly descends into flame wars, is posted in the wrong forum, or is simply spam, the moderators rarely delete it immediately. Instead the thread is moved to the Dustbin, where it can be viewed temporarily. The dustbin is popular with many members who enjoy reading the aftermath of extremely heated arguments.
Community
This is where urbanites discuss the state of the boards and organise meet-ups. There is a strong community feeling, with many real-world meetings taking place. Many urbanites meet up for curries or meals, or go for the monthly walk. Meet-ups regularly occur at music festivals and raves, the highlight of the calendar being the Glastonbury Festival. There is a complex network of on and offline friendships and even relationships and family amongst the community.
Travel & Places
A selection of forums dedicated to particular regions, with one generic forum dedicated to travel in general (travel and world), and several others dedicated to specific regions (London, Brixton, Bristol and South West, Wales/Cymru, Scotland/Alba, Northern forum (as in the North of England), and New York/US. The newest additions to travel & places were the Northern forum and the Scotland/Alba forums, added in July 2005.
Forum Culture
- Members of the boards tend to be referred to by some as urbanites, although this is not necessarily widely used.
- The traditional greeting to new members is "Come in, sit down, have a Hobnob and don't lend Dub a fiver". 'Dub' refers to the member calling himself Dubversion, but the origins of the greeting are largely unknown, as will be the meaning to non-British readers.
- Some posters like to be the last poster on a thread before it is binned. If a thread looks likely to be binned, a few members will rush to post a message like 'Last in bin?' This is a rather dubious honour and many urbanites frown upon such behaviour.
- An infrequent game played by some urbanites is Mornington Crescent, as popularized by the BBC Radio 4 series I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue. When played it can stretch on for days, weeks and even months, confusing old and new members alike, whilst amusing those who play it.
- Various 'board games' (ie. games played on the bulletin boards) have been pioneered by the urbanite DrJazzz and others, such as the Thread Killer Competition, where posters compete to be the last person to post on the alloted thread, and other competitions such as thread bumping, or predicting the times of certain events, such as the death of Pope John Paul II. In recent times, 'poster above you' activities and word games have become more popular.
- Popular phrases on the boards include:
- Rascist!!! a sarcastic response to a post, suggesting that some hysterical responders might consider its content racist. (Note misspelling.) Often in a large font, different colours etc. Facist!!! is used similarly.
- *bangs on perspex screen* a call for slow-witted posters to hurry up their response.
- *shakes fist* (a usually ironic angry post, accompanied by a similarly angry smiley. Variants include: *bangs on window* and *lights torch*).
- bookmarks an expression of interest in a thread.
- Bin/ban/etc a demand that the poster above is banned and the whole thread placed in the dustbin forum. Mostly used for comedy effect.
Offline
On 19th February 2004, the first Offline club night was held at the Brixton Ritzy cinema. Organised by the site's editor and various other urbanites, it showcased an eclectic mix of DJs, poets and artists, all for free, as well as expanding the urban75 community further into the "real" world. On 30th September 2004, the night moved to the more suitable location of the Dogstar club in Brixton, where it remains. It was described by Time Out magazine as "the best thing to happen to the Dogstar in donkey's" and "...so successful it hurts!" The night is held on the last Thursday of every month.
Urbanites club events
In September 2001, the first Urbanites club night was held at the Brixton Telegraph club . Organised by the site's afficionados already involved in club promotion, notably bulletin board members Zeedoodles, Pandakiller, and sam/phallocrat, the night came out of a desire to bring members of the fast-growing community together in numbers not seen previously. There were at least 12 of these dedicated U75 nights between the end of 2001 and 2003 , from which lasting relationships and even in some cases marriages and children were formed! Musically, these events were dance music based , and concentrated mainly on house music and techno , with occasional diversions into jungle , ska , drum and bass and breakbeat. The 'Urbanite' events have now been effectively succeeded by the current once-monthy Offline night, though the "Hedgeparties", (outdoor raves held in summertime in a hedge somewhere in South London ), and the hugely successful "People's Republic of Disco" (PROD) events still attract many of the initial Urbanite clubbers, as well as at the numerous weekly warehouse party events kept secret from the public areas of the bulletin board .
Chat
Urban75 also has a small, but long-established, Internet Relay Chat server, whose members discuss a diverse range of subjects. Discussions may sometimes get heated, but are more likely to be long and slow or nonexistent at times. Chat tends to be busiest in the mid-to-late evenings (UK time) - or when the boards are down.
Clan
In January 2005 a number of posters set up a website and a server for an Urban75 clan, which allowed members to play computer games with each other online. Although any online-enabled game can be played, the most popular is Counterstrike.
Radio
On May 1 2005 a group of posters made a pilot radio show for the community, available to download as an mp3. The three pilots that followed including an interview with the manager of the site, a range of originally recorded music contributed by urbanites, alternative documentaries, and live recordings from the Offline club night. A regular show is planned from September 2005.
Brian Paddick
Urban75 entered the national news when Brixton's police chief Brian Paddick posted on the bulletin boards in order to discuss issues with Brixton's community while he was conducting a cannabis tolerance experiment. However, when the tabloid press discovered Paddick's posting on the site, a scandal was born. In particular, the press highlighted one post on the boards, where Paddick supposedly said 'The concept of anarchy has always appealed to me'. Although this was taken out of context, Paddick was suspended (although later reinstated). The front-page attention from the somewhat hysterical tabloid newspapers, outraged at the concept of a senior police commander being attracted to anarchism, and additionally happening to be a gay man, led to many contributors joining the bulletin boards.
Press
Quite a few journalists use the site - some openly, some not - and posters can find themselves quoted in national papers or other websites. The most recent example was when a survivor of the London tube bombings posted an account of her experience, which became a blog on the BBC website.