Platform for Conversation

WestwoodBlog is intended to be more than a typical blog. At its simplest definition, a blog is a website where an author periodically posts ideas and insights and allows readers to comment. As new material is posted, the older posts are pushed down the page and onto subsequent pages in the site. It's a diary, a journal, or perhaps a frequently published column.

The cartoon above from the New Yorker several years ago, reflects the more common idea of what a blog is--or at least the perception from several years ago: "pointless, incessant barking."

But I think good blogs are more than just an author and his followers (or detractors). They can be a platform for starting conversations. They are not just discussion boards--which can turn into long, complicated threads of debate. An author creates a starting point--an article that references other media with hyperlinks so readers can go directly to the source to read more, then come back and join the conversation. The opinion + commentary--and the fact that new articles are posted often can allow us all to learn as we go and consider what insights others have to offer.

I envision Westwood Blog as being a sort of community platform for conversation. The core of the site is my blogging, but if others want to blog, I can support that as I've done when I encouraged the Selectman candidates to post articles here. The core is surrounded by other features, such as the news feeds at the bottom right that display recent articles from local media, and something I just added "WestFacts" a sort of "town factoid" or "quote of the day" type thing at the top right of this page that will randomly display things I add to a list of short, interesting articles about the town. The events calendar is a special type of article that has a date attached and which displays in "Upcoming Events" item on the left side of the page. "Polls" are informal, non-scientific, fun straw polls that I run on the site occassionally to give people a quick way to express their opinion.

Westwood Blog is not a competitor to local newspapers. They have far better resources to report on stories, check facts, and conduct timely interviews and followups. But I believe this site can complement our local media which is often spread too thin and which has limited opportunity for community feedback.

Westwood Blog is not just opinion. The topics that generate the most comments have been political so far, but if you browse the topics listed in the right column, you will find coverage of many different things. We'll see how it develops...but I hope, over time, the site becomes a community resource, not just to talk about issues, but to learn more about town and assist those who want to become more involved in navigating their way.

You can read all posts I have written about how to use this site, purpose, etc. by clicking on the topic link for announcements.