Boston Mayor Marty Walsh hosted his first Facebook Q&A Monday afternoon, an obvious attempt to better connect to the Boston innovation class while attempting to gain a reputation as a tech savvy leader. He’s not perfect at it, as you’ll see in our three big takeaways. But perhaps more importantly, he made some interesting remarks in regards to Boston Public Schools education and charter schools, as well as gun control and the right to bear arms.

After posing our own question in the mayor’s forum, to which he bluntly responded with a non-response, we sat back and watched Mayor Walsh engage with Boston Facebook users to the best of his limited ability.

1. His tech skills are tragic but he wants to learn.

Take a look at the photo below. Mayor Walsh types by looking at the keys he wants to punch instead of watching them materialize on screen, like he’s furiously poking the letters with both of his stubby index fingers. Most of his answers, too, were limited in word count and substance but he did contribute a few sentences that were slightly more than fluff.

But, believe it or not, that’s actually an improvement. Take a look at this 25 Days on the 5th Floor posted to the City of Boston’s Vimeo account (see, he’s expanding his social media knowledge). Jump to about the 3:22 mark and you’ll see his press secretary ask him one of the questions posed during the Twitter Q&A he recently hosted and respond using her phone. He merely typed “Thanks for the great question.”

And it’s important to note that he wants to learn. He understands the growing power of social media and how it can bridge the gap between municipal leaders and residents, as exemplified by this response to a Boston University student:

Social media is an opportunity to directly connect with constituents in real time, and engage on a personal level. These conversations are a fantastic way for me to hear what is on your mind, and I use this information to inform what we focus on in the City. Where I can, I always want to hear directly from constituents.

In signing off from Facebook when the chat came to an end, he noted that there would be more digital forums to come – meaning that he’ll only get better and that he’s very much willing to learn.

2. He wants to uphold the Menino’s legacy of being the “neighborhood mayor.”

A solid majority of users posed questions that pertained to a larger group or demographic, most notably Boston Public Schools families – no surprise there seeing as how the theme of Monday’s discussion was innovation and education. But a few discontented Bostonians asked Mayor Walsh about problematic items that were specific to them or a smaller amount of people. To that, Mayor Walsh essentially responded, let me deal with it personally.

One woman pleaded with the mayor that her child’s K-8 school does next to nothing to promote a communal atmosphere. Mayor Walsh’s response? “Invite me to a meeting with the parents and I will ask them.”

Another conflicted father told the mayor that his daughter is being bullied and the school’s teachers have yet to intervene. Mayor Walsh’s response? “Call my office to report and we will look into this.”

Sure, the latter response is more protocol than personable, but keep in mind there were at least a dozen other questions the mayor opted not to respond to in favor of this one. And the former? He wants to get down in the trenches and foster community at the neighborhood level, Menino-style.

3. He won’t commit on controversial issues.

Take a step back to the end of January when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder approved the decision to pursue the death penalty for suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Though Walsh made it clear that as a state Representative he voted against capital punishment in Massachusetts, he didn’t say whether he agreed with Holder’s ultimate decision and that he simply had faith in the judicial process.

There were two stark instances in the Q&A where he seemed either on the fence concerning controversial issues or was unwilling to share his decided opinion. When asked whether he supports the Second Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms, Walsh noted in caps, “YES I DO.”

But in a statement dispatched back at the end of January, Walsh said that he wants to get rid of guns in general, not necessarily legal, but not solely illegal firearms, in order to promote public safety.

In a similar respect, as also noted by local publication Dig Boston, Mayor Walsh demonstrated unwavering support for charter schools in Boston, saying that he’s in favor of lifting the charter school cap which, subsequently, could take away funding from Boston Public Schools institutions and reduce the achievement gap he’s so eager to close.

Though he’s been Mayor of Boston for barely more than a month, he’s done a great job of promoting his image as “the son of Boston”; however, he has yet to take hard stances on hard issues. It’ll be interesting to see if he dives deeper into such topics with his upcoming social media chats in the near future.

Have any thoughts of your own? Feel free to share them in the comments section below.