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After a Palo Alto middle school student was the target of a student-led “I Hate [Student's Name]” Facebook group, some Silicon Valley parents are calling for a community dialogue about cyberbullying. According to the Silicon Valley Moms blog, over 100 young people participated in the online group. Many of the public Facebook posts “ranged from insulting, rude comments to actual threats of violence” against the bullied student. Although school district officials took measures to remove the Facebook group, some concerned residents are calling for a meeting about the harmful effects of intolerance and hate speech, and what the community can do to get to the root of the problem. Parent Roxane Dover encourages Silicon Valley to stand together against cyberbullying in Cyberbullying: whose responsibility is it?:

  Not In Our Town is one of three films highlighted in Social Issue Documentary: The Evolution of Public Engagement, a recent Center for Social Media report by Barbara Abrash, Director of Public Policy Programs at the Center for Media, Culture, and History at New York University. Abrash uses the Not In Our Town films and campaign to show how innovative approaches in community outreach, social networking, multimedia, and civic engagement are breaking new ground in the realm of public media. Here are a few excerpts from Abrash’s report: “The evolution of [Not In Our Town] demonstrates how a documentary about the experience of one small city inspired cities and towns across the U.S. to adapt the NIOT model to local circumstances, and led to a loosely-structured alliance slated to become a sustainable virtual community.” [...]