Why This Site Exists

Dispatches from 02186 is a Milton Community Website. What does that mean, and why does this site exist?

I have been a Milton resident since 2012. Over the past thirteen years, I've developed deep roots in the town: raising my children through the Milton schools; coaching soccer and baseball; volunteering for town committees; participating in Town Meeting; and running for town wide office and otherwise being deeply involved in the town's political issues.

In that time, and through that involvement, I have developed deep friendships and strong ties to my neighbors. I care deeply about what this town is now, and where it's going. And I have been heartened to see so many who feel the same.

But something troubles me deeply about our political discourse.

Like our political discourse nationally, Milton's political discourse has become increasingly divisive, personal, and at times even toxic. The factors driving this coarsening are complex, but one factor seems clear: the use of social media (especially Facebook) as a public forum for political discussion.

The promise of Facebook, and online platforms like it, is radical democratization. Facebook makes the public sphere open to anyone with an internet connection and a device. It encourages a cacophony of voices to fill the public square so that we can all benefit from our neighbor's ideas and experiences, in ways impossible before the advent of the internet. Social media platforms should be spaces where we can engage with each other, learn from each other, reach common ground, and build community.

Instead, they have become vehicles for anger and polarization.

Many of these problems lie at the feet of the social media companies themselves. Online polarization is a feature, not a bug. Built-in algorithms amplify information silos. And they are designed, just as our mobile devices are designed, to be addictive.

Some of these problems could be mitigated by strong moderation: disallowing anonymous posting; creating rules of the road (no personal attacks; citations to facts) and enforcing them. But it's much, much easier to create a page, and let the sparks fly.

In the process, we gain little, and lose much. Mostly, we loosen the bonds of community, and are encouraged to retreat into our information silos. Online spaces become not experiments in radical democratization, but corporate-driven tools that atomize us.

So, how can we use the internet in a way that builds community, and that encourages healthy and productive political discourse? This website is meant to find an answer.

My hope and intention through "Dispatches" is to provide a space for the myriad voices of our Milton community to be heard. Of course, this means understanding the various views in our political conversations, challenges, and disagreements. But it also means understanding each other as people, and not just as voters or political entities.

I aim to provide interviews with members of our community; information about our town government; moderated political discussion; and opportunities for writings and viewpoints that may run the gamut, well beyond politics.

For now, no comments will be allowed. That may change; but for now, this site will provide curated content, gathered either at my invitation, or based on your requests for submission. I hope that this site grows and that we can find a way to create a forum for free-flowing discussion, but only if I can find a way to ensure that that discussion is community building, not community destroying.

And finally, while I will take the prerogative to provide my views from time to time, this site is for the community. It is for everyone, regardless of their viewpoint, to connect with others. This is a "Milton Community Website." Through it, I hope we can build community together.