By Eric Diters, AmericaSpeaks

Next American City, a non-profit dedicated to promoting socially and environmentally sustainable economic growth in America’s cities, held its second annual Open Cities conference in Washington, D.C. earlier this month.  Participants, including public officials, programmers and designers, and leading experts from think tanks, explored the possibilities that new media could offer for civic engagement.

This article gives a great description of one of the more exciting tools showcased at the conference, called Give a Minute Chicago.

I can’t help but wonder if tools like this one are something of a double-edged sword:  they offer remarkable opportunities for citizen input on one level, and on another, they are an example of the communication-through-sound-byte that has done so much damage to our national discourse.  What are your thoughts?