How is your government “building local community” online? Invite to Locals Online

In many cities, neighborhood councils have been established through a mix of citizen-up voluntary and government-led activities. Often established as non-profits, the resulting entities experiment with a mix of models and activities.

My sense is that below the radar, often unregulated by open meeting laws or broadcast communication models, many are experimenting with social media more than governments. In other communities, the government (or others) is funding/supporting encouraging shared online platforms and the like since many of these organizations do not have the capacity to operate effectively on the web (unless they have the right volunteer or staff person).

I’d like to learn about the best local community sites in your area and links to meta-projects that are helping neighbors connect via social media for community engagement. I’ll share some in the comments as well.

Steven Clift

E-Democracy.org

P.S. I’d like to invite anyone hosting local online communities (e-mail lists, blogs, Facebook groups, Ning networks, etc.) to join the new Locals Online peer to peer online group.