More Community Facebook Pages
The response to my previous post has
been outstanding; there is obviously a strong desire for urban revival in the
Delaware Valley. I am pleased to highlight
other urban activist Facebook pages in this post, asking you again to learn
about them and get involved with them.
I have been searching Facebook for
pages focused on local community improvement, limiting myself for now to
boroughs in the Schuylkill Valley. I am
sure that I am overlooking some, as the search criteria caught only those pages
with the names of local communities.
There are a huge number of Facebook
pages that focus on a specific community, and that is just looking at local
possibilities. I attempted to count the
pages containing the word “Norristown,” for example, but eventually gave up. I love the many local pages like “You Know
You’re From [your borough] When...,” or “[borough name], The Good Old Days,” but I
don’t list them here. They have their
own focus, and are worth checking out. You
could learn something; I know I have.
Even using a borough’s name in a
Facebook search can yield confusing results.
There are, for example, several cities named “Bridgeport” that have one
(or more) Facebook pages. It’s Bridgeport, PA, however, that you
should check out. It’s a discussion
group that attempts to both inform borough residents and encourage
communication about the community. It's an an excellent source of community news.
It should come as no surprise to anyone
that Pottstown and Norristown have the most pages devoted to community
issues. Emblematic of its current
situation, Phoenixville appears to have none.
Did I miss any?
Pottstown’s activist Facebook pages
demonstrate a commendable structure, in effect dividing up the work. Crime
in Pottstown has an obvious focus, and presses hard and often about the
issue, featuring photos and facts. First Suburbs Project takes a look at
the several issues affecting our older urban neighborhoods, utilizing an
excellent thematic structure. There aren’t
just rants, they are well-presented essays.
Both Talk Pottstown and Golden Cockroach (I mentioned them last
time) spur community activism as well as discussion.
But
Here’s The Best Part: They ALL
communicate with each other!
Can the Norristown activist groups say
the same?
No borough should be too small to host
an activist page. Royersford has one;
it’s called Royersford Residents for
Revitalization and Renewal. No one
has posted on it for some time, and I hope the group still exists. Let’s give it some encouragement.
That’s five more Facebook pages about
which I offer the same advice I did last time:
Like
them, join them and make people aware of them.
Once again, if you know of any relevant
Facebook pages that I have not listed, contact me, and I will add them to my
“links” section.
Facebook is Not Your Only Option
As much potential as I believe Facebook
has for urban activists, exposure on it can have a downside, as many have
discovered. There is always a need for
redundant channels of communication, and one may have just made its
appearance. A recent segment on the TV
show 20/20 offered it up, and word is spreading on Facebook. I am pleased to help. The social site (and app) is called Next Door, and here is the link: Nextdoor.com. I
recommend you check Norristown blogger Shae Ashe’s post on it. He points out how useful it could be to
develop community networks. Here is the
link his post:
Next Door markets to local communities,
and emphasizes privacy and security, two high priorities. I’m no techie, and have not explored its
offering in any detail. At this point I
view a Next Door “private network” as complimentary to a Facebook presence, not
as a replacement. I say this because
while the “local neighborhood” focus with both privacy and security sounds good
for the local community, it does not
seem to promote communication between communities or organizations. That, of course, strikes a note of concern
for me, because the whole basis of my pitch is open and frequent communication
between communities and the people dedicated to improving them. The last thing community activists need is to
retreat further into their own neighborhoods, shutting out contact with others. Facebook has helped to overcome that old
problem, and should continue to be exploited, with care.
I need to learn more about how this
“private network” might function, and how the protections it seems to offer
would aid intra-community communication.
If any of you are considering experimenting with it, let me know.
One final (for this post, at least)
point. You will notice that my Links
section is arranged by borough. Next to
every activist site I have so far discovered I have placed a link to the
relevant borough government site. I do
this for the same reason I list the activist sites themselves: Communication. Your borough’s website should be your first
stop for local information, although definitely not your last. Find out what’s happening, and inform your
friends. I read frequently about failure
to spread the word around a community about upcoming events that are important
to it. If that is the fault of the
borough site, get on them about it. They
make it easy, and give you the phone numbers to call!
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