[open-government] Civility Online - A Proposal

Tue Jan 11 02:19:39 UTC 2011

Given the recent discussions of online vitriol and incivility leading
us to greater social conflict and real violence in society, I am
considering hosting a time-limited online dialogue for hosts of online
discussion to exchange ideas and lessons on how to foster greater
civility in their online efforts.

First, is this a good idea?

Second, would you like to be a co-host and "take a day" so to speak?

Third, can you help fund the idea? Or recommend some quick turn around
funding sources. Without some funding, we can't afford to do this
right.

Also, I see little value in hosting a general conversation about
online civility without the real hosts of critical mass online news
commenting and social media in the virtual room. So, the focus here
would be a frank exchange among those who see the fireworks and
conflict on their sites and what can be done about it.

Thanks,
Steven Clift
E-Democracy.org
Clift at e-democracy.org
612 234 7072

P.S. Something I wrote in 2003 has sadly come true:
http://stevenclift.com/?p=108
...

After a decade working directly with e-democracy issues, I’ve
concluded that “politics as usual” online may be the tipping point
that finishes off what television started – the extinction of
democracy and democratic spirit.

Those hoping for an almost accidental democratic transformation
fostered by the information technology will watch in shock from the
sidelines as their favorite new medium becomes the arsenal of virtual
civil war – virtual civil wars among partisans at all levels.

When I open e-mail from all sorts of American political parties and
activist groups, I see conflict. I see unwillingness to compromise.

Let’s be optimists and suggest that the Net is doubling the activist
population from five percent to ten percent. The harsh reality is that
we are doubling the virtual soldiers, an expendable slash and burn
online force, available to established political interests.

As the excessive and bitter partisanship of the increased activist
population leaks into the e-mail boxes of everyday people, I predict
abhorrence of Net-era politics among the general citizenry. I fear the
extreme erosion of public trust not just in government, but also in
most things public and political.

Instead of encouraging networked citizen participation that improves
the public results delivered in our democracies, left to its natural
path, the Internet will be used to eliminate forms of constructive
civic engagement by the other 90 percent of citizens. A 10 percent
democracy of warring partisan is no democracy at all.

...