Our organization, the Freedom Project, recently closed our physical museum space and is now doing programming throughout the city of Chicago focusing on freedom and the First Amdendment. Our goal is to help people understand the relevance of the First Amendment, and also to create a place for meaningful discussion where people feel safe and respected regardless of viewpoint. In our public programs, we’re able to foster good discussion and debate around all different topics, and hear lots of voices and opinions. In our social media, however, we’re having some trouble creating that same type of dialogue — or any type of dialogue, to be honest. Web 2.0 has been touted as a way to engage new audiences and engage many voices in discussions, and we’d like to harness that power, but we’re not sure how.
While I obviously would not be able to necessarily lead a discussion on what to do to create and inspire meaningful discussions via social media, I would love to have a roundtable, perhaps in conjunction with Dan’s proposal, or just over drinks, frankly, where I can hear from some others about what you’ve tried, and what has worked. We really want to be a place for open, safe discussion on contentious issues, and hope that social media can help us achieve that. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Can’t wait to meet you all!
Kel
Tags: discussion, freedom, motivation, participation, proposal, safe space
We at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum would also love to discuss this issue. We strive to make our Museum open to diverse viewpoints, especially regarding immigration. Our tours are structured to offer lots of room for healthy discussion, and we have a special program devoted to dialogue about contemporary immigration issues. However, we too have struggled to create such conversation online. I’d love to hear best practices or advice for starting and maintaining a discussion on our blog or among our Facebook commenters…
Kate
Definitely would like to hear your experiences regarding online discussion, Kelli, and to share ours since we’re working to create more dynamic and invested conversations online through Facebook. Frankly, I’m not sure what good “discussion” looks like online. Are our expectations too tied up in face-to-face communication? What are the limitations of social media interfaces? danah boyd has written a lot about how social networking sites “flatten” social networks, creating anxiety in how people navigate public/private online spaces. I’d like to really think, in conjunction with Dan’s proposal, about how design influences what people perceive as risky/comfortable in such spaces.
Curious to hear what works in your public programs, too.
Kate, specifically regarding conversation on blogs, I actually got some useful advice recently at a workshop, which basically involved really nurturing interpersonal relationships with other bloggers who are interested in the issues you’re trying to highlight. Seemed like it would take a lot of legwork, but would be worthwhile to create a really invested audience.
Kel –
Great topic and one I hope my session can compliment. I’m planning to discuss a recently developed model for thinking about how to increase levels of participation in collaborative environments. I’m hoping to talk more with you and Kate (love the LESTM, by the way!) about these ideas.
Personally, I have had, and continue to have, very engaging discussions online about ‘hot’ topics (I’d be happy to share these experiences with you) – but they are all in the context of my personal relationships on facebook and twitter.
I think it is possible to get meaningful dialogue online and I think there are a lot of groups who do it well who we can all learn from. But yes, it does take a lot of resources! And it depends on your institution’s goals. We can build a program for success online if we first define our goals.
I wonder if the session I proposed would work well alongside your session, Kelli?
Kel – this is a discussion I would like to be a part of. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center has been unsuccessful at creating meaningful dialogue on our blog for sometime – our topics cover everything from racism today, contemporary slavery/human trafficking, and the Civil War. We cover a broad range of topics and with a two person Communications/Marketing/PR department we aren’t able to devote as much time to blogging as we would like. Has anyone attempted to foster relationship with other bloggers to create a “network” of dialogue? How has that worked? How did you attempt to reach out?
Having a safe open space for community dialogue is going to be extremely important for the NURFC in the coming months because in January we will be hosting an controversial exhibition that will be highly dependent on our programs, lectures, and dialogue opportunities not only in person but on the web as well.