Blogosphere

I wrote this when I was involved with NCO/Northfield.org. They still have a version of it posted but it’s not been updated lately. So here’s an updated version. - Griff Wigley (last updated: May 1, 2008)

It’s starting to happen: a cluster of weblogs and podcasts in a small geographic area that are at least occasionally devoted to civic matters — Northfield, Minnesota’s civic blogosphere. (Definition of blogosphere: the intellectual cyberspace occupied by a subset bloggers.)

I began working on making weblogs a tool for strengthening the civic fabric of the area, both for individual citizens, local leaders, and local non-profit organizations in early 2004. Why? I think it’s good for democracy for citizens to be more than passive consumers of media. I see weblogs (and podcasts) as tools that can be used for “citizen media,” a unique way to have a dialogue among separate sources of information that’s not otherwise easily done.

I think leaders can use blogs to “leverage” their leadership activities using an authentic voice that people don’t normally get to hear or read. And if both citizens and leaders are blogging in a geographic community in significant numbers, it may be possible to avoid a “we-they” atmosphere of attack/defend and instead, have a culture of problem-solving be the dominant mode. I think it’s possible that the collective wisdom of area citizens, community leaders, public officials, and government staff — becoming more visible via blogging — can be a significant force for the common good.

Here’s a listing of weblogs that comprise Northfield’s Civic Blogosphere:

Area government officials with weblogs

Area organization leaders with weblogs

Area non-profit/civic organizations with weblogs

Area citizens with weblogs that appear to be locally civic-oriented (at least some of the time)

Area media organizations/people with blogs

If you know of other blogs or podcasts that should be considered for addition to this list, contact me.