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Neighborhoods Online - What’s the best way? What doesn’t work?

Posted by netclift on February 11th, 2008 and filed under Online Social Networking, Panel 1 More Comments, Panel I, Panel II

I am interested in research about the best ways to build sustained online relationships among those who live near one another.

I am highly skeptical that technological determinism (the cornerstone of web 2.0) will build much more than “virtual ghost towns” at the local level. Sites like Facebook are only “public spaces” if you accept the Mall of America as a democratic public space - what we really have are publicized private spaces and not public life reflected online.

I am interested in research that will take on this tool-oriented cyber-optimism and find out what really works online (and offline) to make local places work online.

Below is a post to our online community of practice for those building Issues Forums about the real world efforts required to create deeply engaged geographically-based communities online that last for years.

Steven Clift

E-Democracy.Org

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