Creating a neighborhood social media group is a great way to stay in touch with your community and create lasting connections. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors, making it difficult to communicate with neighbors on a daily basis. Luckily, sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Lifeat.com offer wonderful opportunities for fostering great relationships with neighbors.
“One of the primary benefits of social media is the way that it makes tacit knowledge — what I know but might not normally share, such as which bus stop is the cleanest or when the doughnuts come out of the oven at the grocery store — accessible to everyone,” explains John Jones, social media pro and visiting assistant professor of emerging media and communication at the University of Texas at Dallas. “Imagine the kind of information about a neighborhood that could be shared on a community wiki. For example: as everyone contributes their tacit knowledge and makes it accessible to others, it’s possible to act on that knowledge to improve the community.”
Where to begin
So how do you go about spearheading a project like this for your neighborhood? Jones suggests:
Building on existing social groups in the neighborhood, like a neighborhood coalition or watch group to act as the nucleus of the new online community.
Consider hosting an informal brainstorming session at your home or community center to gauge community interest.
Since older neighbors may be hesitant to join an online community, it may be helpful to demonstrate how the site would work and offer tutorials for those still wary about the group.
Sites like Facebook are less intimidating to users, and still offer private groups, and Twitter lists could allow neighbors to share what’s going on in the community.
“The more adventurous could create a more specific site on WordPress or MediaWiki for communicating or sharing information,” Jones adds.
Consistency is key
Once your neighbors are on board, it’s important to create a clear purpose for your group. Is it going to be used to keep track of news and contact information or to post encouraging words about good neighbors?
After the site is up and running, the trick is keeping people interested with frequent information.
“Keeping communication flowing on a network is a tricky thing,” Jones says. “If there isn’t a steady stream of information being added to the network, users won’t come back to it and it will eventually die. The best strategy for a person starting a community social media project is to work on providing regular, useful information to the site; hopefully, this will encourage others to become engaged and want to share on the site as well.”
Create a Neighborhood Social Media Group
Creating a neighborhood social media group is a great way to stay in touch with your community and create lasting connections. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors, making it difficult to communicate with neighbors on a daily basis. Luckily, sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Lifeat.com offer wonderful opportunities for fostering great relationships with neighbors.
“One of the primary benefits of social media is the way that it makes tacit knowledge — what I know but might not normally share, such as which bus stop is the cleanest or when the doughnuts come out of the oven at the grocery store — accessible to everyone,” explains John Jones, social media pro and visiting assistant professor of emerging media and communication at the University of Texas at Dallas. “Imagine the kind of information about a neighborhood that could be shared on a community wiki. For example: as everyone contributes their tacit knowledge and makes it accessible to others, it’s possible to act on that knowledge to improve the community.”
Where to begin
So how do you go about spearheading a project like this for your neighborhood? Jones suggests:
Sites like Facebook are less intimidating to users, and still offer private groups, and Twitter lists could allow neighbors to share what’s going on in the community.
“The more adventurous could create a more specific site on WordPress or MediaWiki for communicating or sharing information,” Jones adds.
Consistency is key
Once your neighbors are on board, it’s important to create a clear purpose for your group. Is it going to be used to keep track of news and contact information or to post encouraging words about good neighbors?
After the site is up and running, the trick is keeping people interested with frequent information.
“Keeping communication flowing on a network is a tricky thing,” Jones says. “If there isn’t a steady stream of information being added to the network, users won’t come back to it and it will eventually die. The best strategy for a person starting a community social media project is to work on providing regular, useful information to the site; hopefully, this will encourage others to become engaged and want to share on the site as well.”