Civil Discourse, Meet the Internet; Internet, meet Civil Discourse

In this guest post, Deborah Elizabeth Finn, an online engagement expert and long time technology consultant to the Public Conversations Project ponders a future in which the internet and Public Conversations exert a positive influence on each other.

We invite those interested in the intersection of technology and the work of inspiring constructive conversations to consider how new media and new modes of encounter shape this discourse. More broadly, we also invite those of you in the wider nonprofit community, who are increasingly using new and social media in your work, to consider how this conversation affects you and your spheres of influence.

Civil discourse, meet the internet; Internet, meet civil discourse

When the Public Conversations Project upgraded their web site and jumped into the world of social media, I became truly excited. The best case scenario immediately sprang to mind—one in which everyone benefits from the intersection of internet culture with civil discourse.

In many ways, the internet is a frontier culture, one that encompasses extraordinary acts of both lawlessness and neighborliness. What can the exponents of civil discourse bring to it, and how can the internet enrich the wisdom of the Public Conversation Project’s skilled facilitators?

On the basis of many years of online experience, and a more modest number of years of experience in working with the Public Conversations Project, I have taken the liberty of guessing what lessons might be learned.

What online communities can teach the Public Conversations Project:

• Geography can become irrelevant in ways that might surprise you.
• You never know in advance who is going to be affected by your message.
• Your potential supporters, stakeholders, and allies are out there, but not necessarily listed in a directory of well-established practitioners and organizations.
• Even the best technology for the job won’t solve a problem, unless you have the right strategy and execution.
• For some people, conflict is simply a source of recreation.
• The medium by which words are delivered – e.g., text, audio, or video – can radically affect the way they are received by an audience.
• If you want to serve your stakeholders, clients, donors, and friends online, you need to meet them where they are and use the channels that they prefer.
• Making mistakes is nearly indistinguishable from learning something new, which in turn is nearly indistinguishable from having fun.

What the Public Conversations Project can teach online communities:

• It takes skill and experience to build a meaningful dialogue, and this is something you can learn to do.
• Even when you can’t see or hear them, you’re interacting with real human beings.
• Not everyone in your community is ready to engage in constructive dialogue.
• The best discussion in the world may lead to greater understanding, but not necessarily to agreement.
• In many cases, listening and learning are more realistic goals than persuasion and evangelization.
• Almost everyone you interact with believes that his or her worldview is perfectly reasonable.
• In addition to those who own the forum or participate most actively, a community has many other stakeholders.
• Creating great relationships among those who disagree is not only desirable but possible.
• No matter how inexplicable the language and behavior of others may be, it’s safe to assume that they crave respect.
• Civility is the best long term policy, even if it means that you have to forgo the short term gratification of delivering a perfectly constructed insult.

Of course, once the Public Conversations Project and the internet start mixing it up in earnest, there’s no telling what will happen. It could be less than the best case scenario, and it could be wonderful in a way that I could never have predicted.

Deborah Elizabeth Finn
www.deborahelizabethfinn.com

June 2, 2010