People like me who run community sites (mine is MyTopiaCafe.com) often talk about "civic engagement" and believe that the community information we provide encourages broader and deeper civic participation. Nice happy talk, but there's little research to determine whether our efforts really are effective in that regard. As a scholar, I see the value in such research -- but as a practitioner, I just haven't had the time to do it.
How exactly can community sites strengthen civic engagement? Through content? Site functions for feedback and social networking? Site architecture? The personalities engaged in making the site work through these means, and more? The people who engage in action based on something posted to the site?