Levy offers a spectrum, and I’d answer it this way: If someone is writing a public blog offering commentary on political issues, then yes, he should disclose if he has publicly endorsed or donated money to a candidate. But no, there’s no need to disclose your private voting intentions, even if you have told friends. The former makes you a supporter; the latter merely makes you a likely voter.

Levy is not a journalist, but he’s doing journalism of a sort. Thus, not all of the ethical rules that journalists have to follow apply to him (it would be anathema even for an opinion journalist to give money to a candidate, for instance). But for someone in his position, it’s better to disclose.

Final point: Of course, Levy had already disclosed his support for Baker. It’s not a matter of being open; he is. It’s a matter of informing those who might not be aware of his political activities.

I’ve often said that local blogs are the modern day equivalent of the neighborhood coffee shop where everyone gathered to talk politics. These intensely local gatherings, duplicated hundreds of times around the city, provided a solid foundation for democracy at its most basic level.

But when neighbors gathered at the coffee shop to talk politics, they didn’t wear bags over their heads to mask their identities. In the same way, those who stay anonymous online are not making a positive contribution to this vitally important community building function of local blogs.

Well worth reading in full.

The blabbing continues. From 3:45 to 5 p.m., Adam Gaffin of Universal Hub and I will lead a workshop on “Writing for the Web.”

Finally, on Saturday from 1:45 to 3:15 p.m., I’ll be taking part in a panel discussion on social media that’s part of the ACLU of Massachusetts “Secrecy, Surveillance and Sunlight” conference at UMass Boston. I’ll be joined by Northeastern University Law School professor Hope Lewis, ACLUM online communications coordinator Danielle Riendeau and ACLUM communications director Christopher Ott.

Now, to get back to those slides (and sorry for the funny line breaks; there’s something about SlideShare that I’m obviously missing). There are a number of examples I’ll be talking about that are worth taking a deeper look at. So I thought I’d post some links here.

• The Salem News’ Twitter post about the fire at Danvers Town Hall
• The News’ online story, slideshow and Google map about the fire posted later that day
• Doug Haslam’s blog post about the snowy sidewalk in Newton
• Greg Reibman’s retweet of Haslam’s original Twitter post
• The Newton Tab’s blog post reporting that the snow had been removed
• The New Haven Independent’s comments policy
• The NHI’s story on Jonathan Hopkins, also known as “Norton Street”
• SeeClickFix
• New Haven Independent site, with SeeClickFix feed in right-hand column
• SeeClickFix comments about “the ugliest storefront on Chapel St.”
• NHI story on Chapel Street storefront

The panel was held at the historic Vilna Shul on Beacon Hill — a bit of a nostalgia trip for me, as I lived less than a block away in 1979-’80.

I’ve posted an MP3 of the discussion. There’s a lot of reverb, and it is difficult to hear members of the audience, who did not use the mic. My apologies. The panelists, in the order in which they spoke, were:

• Doug Banks, the editor of Mass High Tech
• Scott Kirsner, the “Innovation Economy” columnist for the Boston Globe
• Dharmesh Shah, the co-founder and chief technology officer of HubSpot.com
• Adam Gaffin, the co-founder, editor and publisher of Universal Hub

And thanks to Doug Levin, who put together the program.

• Scott Kirsner, who writes the “Innovation Economy” column for the Boston Globe.
• Adam Gaffin, the co-founder, editor and publisher of Universal Hub.
• Douglas Banks, the editor of Mass High Tech.
• Dharmesh Shah, chief technology officer and founder of HubSpot.com.

With that many bright minds in the room, I may have to wear shades.

The program will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Vilna Shul, located on Beacon Hill at 18 Phillips St. Please join us.

All-important food-related update: Doug Levin, who’s organizing the event, asks that you send an e-mail to doug {at} vilnashul {dot} com if you’re planning on coming so that he can order enough food. If you’re not looking to eat, you could show up at about 6:45, when the program will begin.