About "Community Diaries"

Community Diaries is an opportunity for citizens of your town or city to engage in a conversation about issues in an on-line format. We consider Community Diaries to be the citizen's editorial page. Community Diaries is more than an e-mail list. It offers periodic webcasts that include online call-in shows as well as a chatroom so everyone has a chance to voice their thoughts. These conversations can be archived on the site and available for future reference.

We use the term diaries because it is meant to serve as a place where thoughtful and reflective commentary can take place. It is the forum where conversations of consquence to citizens of a democracy can take place. We ask that your comments be civil - something which you as a citizen would be proud to share with your family and neighbors. Personal attacks and bitter angry writing will not be posted. This is an opportunity for you to show your community your best thoughts as a member of your town or city.

Community Diaries is part of Ideasunleashed (www.ideasunleashed.com) which is a nonprofit organization created to provide web-based communication to nonprofit organizations and schools to foster peer-to-peer conversation and learning. It received initial support from two foundations in Ohio. Community Diaries began in Oberlin, Ohio to debate a tax levy to appropriate funds for a laptop initiative in the schools. The forum was so popular, we decided to make Community Diaries available in other cities and towns. If you would like information about setting up a Community Diary in your town or if you would like to share your thoughts on the website itself please send us an e-mail message at communitydiaries@gmail.com.