My blog, pertaining to Spanish Harlem community will have enormous benefits from social media to update everyone on changes seen in the neighborhood, each one serving a purpose that is best conveyed through its own form of social media and communication. Such changes can include: additions (ie. A new awesome café!), losses (a restaurant that was once a staple to the community is now closing), modifications (A street filled with potholes and consistently littered will undergo construction to make the neighborhood look nicer), status updates on ongoing projects (how much longer this scaffolding will be up for, and what will we expect after construction ends?), etc… I hope that through the use of social media for my specific blog, The Spanish Harlem neighborhood will be better able to communicate with the people living there, and my blogs popularity could make the experience of living within a community a more interactive and involved one.
Such social media platforms that would better promote my blog include:
Instagram: Specific examples of posts I envision include a picture of a restaurant, and a caption letting instagram followers know the latest post on Vanished Harlem is a feature on the latest restaurant to hit the streets of El Barrio, with an interview with proprietors, employees, and customers. Another use Instagram could have would be to snap pictures of changes to the neighborhood as they happen. People really underestimate how many scaffoldings there are in the streets, and posting a picture of a scaffolding when it has been taken down after months will alert people to expect a new addition to neighborhood, revealing what has been in the works for so long. Posts could look like a side-by-side comparison of what the building looked like before, and the newly constructed building as they happen.
Twitter could have many different practical uses, the most important one to the blog being to tell followers there is a new post or update on the blog. Other uses for twitter include letting people know interesting sites around the neighborhood to keep the site active. When there are new events going on in Spanish Harlem, or developments in this constantly changing atmosphere, twitter would be a great way to put the news out.
@eastharlemcafe- Spanish Harlem’s go to café for real coffee (one amenity to the community I’ve lived my whole life in Spanish Harlem without!) This café is relatively new, and emerged at the start of the population transition, so it would be appropriate to update the people that follow East Harlem Café for a continuation on their beloved neighborhood. East Harlem Café also has spoken word and poetry events with a large audience that would benefit from learning more about hidden gems dispersed throughout the neighborhood.
@delavegaprophet- James De La Vega is Spanish Harlem, maybe even one of New York’s most well known and recognizable icons in street art. As a native of Spanish Harlem, his work can be found on a random mattress tossed on the street, trash cans, and other creative surfaces. The works that can be found often attract many people and many people look forward to coming across his work and take pictures of them. Through social media, I could post his works and let people know about pieces that are temporarily displayed on the street.
@Randallsisland- Randall’s island is a beautiful and spacious park that is only available via footbridge connecting through Spanish Harlem. Visitors to Randall’s Island can enhance their trip and experience to the park by finding out about some other places to stop along the way.
@WalksofNewYork: Walking tours could be a popular tourist activity or way to see the neighborhood, and as a follower, WalksofNewYork could find new additions to their list of stops on their walking tour.
@tripadvisor: Trip Advisor’s reviews of different places around New York occasionally feature East Harlem sites. Posts about some unknown or small businesses in Spanish Harlem could be featured on their site and be advantageous to all three parties (trip advisor, the business featured, and this blog).
@nycgo
@elbarriotours
@ELPASO116- A restaurant right off the subway on 103rd found in Spanish Harlem
@Gothamist- Gothamist is always looking for local stories and features done on areas around the city. As a local Spanish Harlem resident,
@buzzfeed: Their forte of lists and easy reads online could benefit from reading this blog and different features of Spanish Harlem. I imagine some posts including interesting wall art, artistic events, and restaurants in the area that writers of buzzfeed may not have known about before.
@guggenheim (The Guggenheim Museum is found in Spanish Harlem. Similar to the use of the Randall’s Island twitter, followers can stop along at different places if they are visiting the museum.
http://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/ (Subreddit- A forum dedicated to media and info related to the subreddit)
https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork
@ElMuseo
@NatJazzMuseum (In Harlem)
#GentrifyingElBarrio
Have a drink with Trini, your bartender in the neighborhood’s most renowned wine bar, Lexington Social! #LexSocialize
Learn about the neighborhood’s most recent sites for you to visit on the weekends #spanishharlemfordummies