Building Community With Social Media

Note: This article was originally intended for publication in the Elmira Star-Gazette's "Twin Tiers Business" publication. That publication is no longer being published, so the article is presented here instead.

When discussing social media websites with people who haven't used them or haven't been exposed to them, the question I'm most often asked is some variant of "what's the point?" It's often phrased as: "Why do I need to know if someone's going to the grocery store"?

I don't always have an answer at the ready—or at least I didn't until recent news events made it painfully clear how these websites are changing the face of how we communicate and connect with each other. Anyone who doesn't "get" what the new social media is all about would be wise to learn from what happened on April 3, 2009.

On that day, a gunman entered the American Civic Association building on Binghamton NY's Front Street and opened fire on the occupants, ultimately killing 13 and injuring four more before turning his gun on himself. The news was horrific, unexpected for a small quiet town like Binghamton, and the news spread quickly over social networking sites across the Internet.

That afternoon, an e-mail alert arrived from a Facebook friend: "I have to find out what is happening in Binghamton - something about 4 dead and a dozen wounded after gun fire. Doesn't sound good." I immediately went to Google News, where it was the lead story. What happened next illustrates both the positive and negative aspects of the immediacy of the Internet.

I checked Twitter's search page, where "Binghamton" was the top trending subject, meaning that people were currently searching for "Binghamton" more than any other keyword. From there, I followed the entire life cycle of the story that afternoon.

Twitter updates came in at the rate of hundreds every minute. Information and misinformation alike spread at unprecedented speed. From the Twitter page, I followed links to the CNN website, which featured local live news broadcasts. Another link led me to a broadcast of Binghamton police scanners. For a few hours that afternoon, my regular work came to a screeching halt as I clicked my way through various online news sources to try to answer the questions of "What happened?" "What is happening?" and "What's going to happen?".

Slowly but surely, a pattern emerged. A new piece of the puzzle would appear as a Twitter update, which was often ahead of the traditional media, but unconfirmed. It would be repeated several times, then a link would appear to an "official" news source that would either confirm or the rumor, or simply repeat it. Sorting through it all became a difficult yet fascinating exercise.

Ultimately, however, it showed the power of community. For a while, it seemed as though everyone on Twitter was either from Binghamton, or had a personal connection to the city. Shock was expressed. Stories were shared. Condolences were offered. Offers of assistance poured in. The idea of an Internet as a "global village" became more than an abstract idea-it became real.

So now when someone asks, "What's the point?" I have a ready answer. It's about community.