<< The Body Politic

Mid-week roundup: civic engagement and technology

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

A mid-week roundup of civic-related happenings we found interesting:

• CommonPlace and NextDoor are two new (to us) online sites that act as bulletin boards for real-life local communities. The goal is to facilitate community engagement by providing a place where neighbors can share information, ask for help, plan meetings, and organize service projects–among other things–that form the basis for local civic life.  The Social Capital Blog has a good introduction to these sites, and the folks at e-democracy discuss similar efforts.
• The Pew Research Center came out with new findings this week on “Why Americans Use Social Media.” Roughly two thirds of users (the total number of which comprise about 66% of all American adults) use platforms like Facebook and Twitter mainly to stay in touch with family members and friends.
• Past Pew research shows that about 20% of adults use the Internet to talk to neighbors and keep informed about community issues.
• Our friends at the National Council on Citizenship (NCoC) interview John Bridgeland, author of the new book Heart of a Nation: 9/11 & America’s Civic Spirit.

Send us more things to feature in the next roundup!

Chart credit: Pew Research Center