COMM 0014
Blog Post # 3
Lots of people have trouble letting go of the past. They lament about days gone by, trying to find solace in others that share the same romantic view of a simpler time when communities thrived and people had more time for another.
In small town Ontario, embattled downtowns have become the poster child of naysayers who unfairly try to compare the bustling downtowns of thirty years ago with today’s disadvantaged downtowns, that struggle to complete with big box stores and shopping malls designed to draw people away from downtown traffic. Add in some absentee landlords, aging buildings, empty storefronts, and it’s easy to complain and reflect on the way things used to be.
But out of these negative points of view can come something very positive through the use of social media. In Pembroke, Ontario, a small city that was built on the forestry trade in the early 1800’s, a Facebook site originally set up as a space for people to express their frustration, has become a “history channel” where people celebrate the community’s past and look to the future, envisioning a revitalized downtown and more opportunities for people of all ages.
The site, known as “I’m from Pembroke, and I’m Not Afraid to Admit It on Facebook,” has captured the imagination of Pembroke area residents, as well as those that have long since moved away from the community. With almost 3400 likes on the site, it offers a step back in time through the sharing of historic photographs, story telling about some of Pembroke’s founding families, and widespread opinion on the challenges facing the city today, including its struggling inner core.
I work at a community college and I was so impressed with the interaction on the site, it prompted me to contact a local historian about teaching some night classes on the History of Pembroke. The classes hit a homerun! The first classes covered Pembroke’s historic churches and great fires in the community, and both sold out. Two more classes are planned for the fall.
Most of the students that attended the classes were older, many over the age of 60. They had found out about the course because I posted information on the Facebook site that they had been conversing on. By monitoring the site for a few months, I had a good idea of the average age of the users and what attracted people to the site, and that was historical pictures.
I wrote a blog about the history classes, adding in some photos of Pembroke’s Grand Trunk former train station, long since torn down, and told some stories about the community’s past, based on information I had gathered from the teacher and the city’s web site. I linked the blog to the Facebook site, helping drive traffic to our college web site and registration page, and it didn’t take long for the classes to fill.
By doing a bit of research and monitoring of a popular social media site, I was able to create an opportunity for our college, and also help bring more people into a discussion about how the community can rally around its wonderful history and plan for its future. Most encouraging is that more young people are joining the Facebook page and asking lots of questions about Pembroke’s past. That level of engagement has to be positive for the city’s future.
To read my original blog on the history classes, visit this site: http://www3.algonquincollege.com/pembroke/blog/pembrokes-wild-west/
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 