Fastnote - new site for short, civil, anonymous notes to anyone that everyone can read

Fastnote, a new site where you can tell people what you think and see what people are saying to you and others. Make suggestions, recognize someone, thank someone, or share an idea.

Users can report offensive content and then other users moderate and decide whether or not the reported item should stay or be deleted.

Here's a good example of the type of content on this site - a user making a suggestion to President Barack Obama:

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
Nice Town Hall on CNBC today. You need to better understand what small businesses need to create jobs and help them. Pick 10 people who run small businesses + meet with them every month and listen to them. No press. No aides. Just them and you.

Click http://www.fastnote.com/note/916 to see this one and many more.

Social Media, Free Speech, and Governments

Interesting case studies on how to use (and perhaps not use) social media in government - Charlotte NC is going down one path and Mecklenburg county (where Charlotte is located) is going down a different path. Good article here: http://bit.ly/cmP53c

NY Times Q&A with Facebook exec

Remarkable degree of passion in the five pages of comments on a fascinating Q&A with the NY Times and top Facebook exec. Worth reading all five pages of comments. http://nyti.ms/cyMIDd

Understanding before disagreeing

President Obama used a great phrase today in introducing Elena Kagan as his Supreme Court nominee - "understanding before disagreeing".

It's a great approach - listen, gather facts, understand the arguments, and then and only then make up your mind.

Certainly hope this comment truly reflects her approach. Now we just have to hope that the nomination review and confirmation processes are conducted in a civil and thoughtful fashion and not in the court of "outraged sound bites".

Respectful disagreement is a good thing

It strikes me that so much of our so called political dialogue in this country has degenerated to new lows. It seems like the rules changed when I wasn't looking. "If I disagree with your position, then my first response should be to demonize you" is the new rule.

What happened to respectful disagreement? As in, "I listened carefully to your points, I thought about them, and I happen to disagree - but - I still respect you as an individual and I look forward to debating with you again because I might actually learn something from someone as smart as you clearly are."

Where can you go to have that kind of discussion now?

A defense of Anonymous Comments

I've been following Matthew Ingram on Twitter. He has an interesting perspective on the dialogue around anonymous comments that are worth reading.

http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2010/03/20/anonymous-comments-are-they-good-or-evil/

Kudos to North Bay Nugget

Nice position on comments on their articles by the North Bay Nugget. Yes - they want to encourage comments. And, yes, they reserve the right to help ensure the comments are moving the dialogue forward.

Well phrased here: http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2568341

Good to see that more and more people are encouraging civil and thoughtful dialogue and taking reasonable steps to facilitate this.

Thanks!