Stephen Yeargin

I had read a bit about the appeal of East Nashville in the cover story in The Nashville Scene last summer and remembered a passing reference to an insanely popular mailing list for the neighborhood. As the Internet and a connected world ceased to be an awe-striking concept around age nine for me, I was not shocked that the neighborhood had its own message board. That was until a story about a chicken.

A chicken wandered away from its coup and was reunited with its owner later in the week. Nevermind the oddity (I will say it, absurdity) of a chicken striding down the street in an urban area of Music City. We will just leave it at “I know the owner of the chicken.” A mailing list, dating all the way back to 2000, made the reunion possible. While not remarkable (other pets are returned when someone calls the number printed on a flyer stapled to a telephone pole), it did make me wonder about other online communities that are tightly connected to their real-world counterparts.

Facebook and MySpace were reaching a critical mass when I graduated from college, with well beyond the majority of students having profiles on one or both. Even professors and staff have begun to stake their claim in this new media. Just like the East Nashville group, a college online community strongly correlates with its real-world counterpart. Facebook in particular has made several strides toward making their service about what is happening right this moment with their Newsfeed and Status Update services. An announcement about a house party or volunteer opportunity can call together other members at a moment’s notice in either environment.

I believe that these hyper-local online communities will become even more commonplace. Advocacy groups on a college campus form at the click of a button and grow exponentially in a matter of hours, often catching college administrators off guard about the strength of a particular sentiment. Community organizers, the people known for coordinating beautification projects and neighborhood watches, have the most to gain from being able to reach out to others in something as easy as an e-mail or blog post. Instead of advertising an event for a month or two in a newsletter, organizers can increase turnout with online signups and other recruiting tools. The concept is already taking hold in politics.