Potential and Challenges for Social Media in the Neighborhood Context

Abstract

Many studies have focused on new media's role in connecting interest-based communities across vast geographic distances; fewer studies have examined how viable social media is as a communication tool within the neighborhood context. This study investigates the ways in which established modes of place-based neighborhood association, connection, and communication coincide or conflict with the perceived affordances of connection and association available in social networking sites. As a case study, we identified a neighborhood association that had seen its participation rates dwindle. The association's steering committee decided to turn to popular social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter) to revitalize. After the initial launch, they garnered only five “likes,” three Twitter followers, and two members for the e-mail listserv out of a possible 550 households. A survey of neighborhood residents showed some potential for social media use but also significant mismatches between the perceived affordances of social media and residents’ understanding of the place-based context and condition of the neighborhood. We found three main categories where perceptions and expectations of neighborhood communication did not mesh with social media affordances: perceived intimacy within the neighborhood; desired attributes of neighborhood communication; and expectations of digital and physical space and place.