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Urban75 (also sometimes referred to as u75 or urban) is a website and message board based in Brixton, England. It was founded in 1995 and includes e-zine content, as well as bulletin boards. The site, which was founded and is currently run by Mike Slocombe, is characterised by an opposition to mainstream culture, and it does not carry advertisements. It features a mixture of information on topics such as photography and drugs, and also entertainment, with a "Slap a Spice Girl" game proving particularly popular.
History
Urban75 originated from a football comic called Bluebird Jones from which an e-zine entitled Football Fans Against The Criminal Justice Act was spawned, the website of which became Urban75. 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.
As the site expanded into areas other than football and protest, it grew in popularity and was moved to a different, bigger server (becoming part of The Head-Space Project until it moved to its own domain in 1998). Early publicity was generated by Shockwave games in which celebrities could be virtually "slapped" or "punched".
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 internet users while he was conducting a cannabis tolerance experiment. However, when the tabloid press discovered Paddick's posting on the site, a scandal ensued. In particular, the press highlighted one post on the boards, where Paddick supposedly said "The concept of anarchy has always appealed to me". Paddick subsequently met with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens, and accepted criticism of his remarks. No disciplinary action was taken and Paddick remained in his post until his retirement in 2007.
Press
Rachel North, an Urban75 user and a survivor of the London tube bombings, posted an account on the boards of her experience, which became a blog on the BBC website.
References
- ^ Jason Whittaker (2003). "Internet forms and e-zines". The Cyberspace Handbook. Routledge. ISBN 9780415168359.
- Wired world: Eighties survivor cracks the zine scene, Wired Tuesday 17 June 1997
- The Urban Web Warrior:Urban75's Mike Slocombe Online Journalism Review
- The Guardian profile: Brian Paddick, Guardian Unlimited
- ^ Police chief rebuked over 'anarchy' remark, BBC 2002-03-11. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
- Met's Paddick set to retire early, BBC, 2007-04-27. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
- Tube Survivor Blog