WHYY’s civic engagement website, It’s Our City, is celebrating at this moment, as our Twitter following hit 1,000 this morning. It’s unheard of for a public broadcasting station blog to attract such a large following in the Twitter world. I hope this shows that Philadelphians are eager to be involved in their community.

Our 1,000th follower is Jon Edwards. All right, he’s not the former presidential candidate but still a real-life Jon Edwards, a high school teacher on the Main Line. Thanks, Jon.

If you haven’t been following us on Twitter, you’re missing out on the benefit of receiving real-time notifications of important stories happening around Philadelphia. It’s a nice feeling, being connected to your community. That’s what public broadcasting has always been about.

As you’ve seen, many real news stories percolate on the Internet before they hit the mainstream press. We’re certainly watching the Philly area blogs to see what they’re cooking up.

There’s one more thing that I think blogs can do well. It’s my belief that there are many stories in the Philadelphia region that are important, but they don’t always rise to the level of being included in the newspaper or radio reports. Blogs like It’s Our City fill in this niche. Over the next few months, you can expect to see even more examples of what people are doing to improve life in the region from volunteering to tutor students, to testifying before a city hearing. It’s Our City is your website to air your ideas and get feedback from like-minded folks who care about this community.

We hope more local citizens will become aware of this new forum for engaging the community. Tell your friends and family, and give Twitter a try in this new age of civic activism which begins on the Internet and translates into action into our neighborhoods.