Using Blogs for Good and Evil

When ICMA asked to me to participate as a blogger my immediate reaction was to run screaming. Blogs in my community are very popular and prevalently used to attack...assassinate...annihilate...(I could keep going but I think you get the picture) City staff. Though I know I shouldn't, I read them everyday to stay abreast of the latest misinformation and character attacks so that I might select the right amount of armor to protect myself and sufficiently warn others of the approaching cavalry.

Reading the "anonymous" posts by bloggers is a painful process for me, particularly because I know I can not respond or defend the great work of my colleagues, and even if I did, it would not sway the overwhelmingly negative tone of the blog discussion. It is even more painful to accept the fact that several members of our City Council rely on blog content as their sole source of information about City business and frequently post comments (often misinformed) themselves.

Recently I have tried to wain myself off of blogs to cut down on some of my daily punishment and just when I began to make progress ICMA creates a blog and asks me to be a writer. So, after a little more thought and a personal pep talk, I decided that this may be my only opportunity to actually participate as a blogger and use the blog for good instead of evil. No longer do I have sit by with my hands tied yelling and screaming my disapproval, disappointment and disagreement with the latest post!

Because I am an optimist, I am convinced that there are better blog experiences out there in the world. What about your community? Are blogs used for good or for evil?