Our task this week was to write a 5 page thesis as a way to determine the most important components and ideas of our argument. In an attempt to have complete data for this, these past few weeks I’ve been logging posts from Portland’s “snowpocalypse” that happened over winter break. I’m using this as a case study for a mini disaster, and have already seen some interesting trends. As I was writing my 5-page thesis though, I ran into a problem: why is this important? I don’t anticipate there being internet after the Big One, so this mini disaster isn’t a possible example of what might happen since people won’t be able to use Nextdoor. It is a good example of what Nextdoor is capable of in terms of creating connections and spreading social capital around. Over that month-long period, I noticed a lot more community-building posts in the form of spreading information and helping neighbors in sticky situations. I also noticed that it seemed as if people were more likely to post only to Collins View, as opposed to Collins View +10 surrounding neighborhoods, which supported my decision to limit my research to this area. In some ways, this mini disaster just confirms things that people have been saying about communities coming together in the face of disaster. It’s important to note Nextdoor’s role in this disaster, though: without Nextdoor, there would be significantly less community interaction because people weren’t able to leave their houses. Nextdoor allowed people to combine their resources, which included cars with 4-wheel drive, chains, snow gear, sleds, safety and transportation information, and even helping stranded strangers from other neighborhoods. One neighbor decided to open her “igloo” to the neighborhood to get to know each other better over snow cones. City organizations were able to communicate important safety information to Portland residents. I suppose I can use this as an example of the effectiveness of Nextdoor, amplified by the disaster. I think it could also highlight neighbors’ willingness to meet and help each other given the opportunity, and when people notice this in this situation, it could help facilitate faster collaboration after an earthquake.
I also talked to Liz this week about what my thesis could possibly be. Turns out it was much more obvious than I thought: My focus question is What kinds of relationships are currently being formed between neighbors, and are they helpful or harmful in facilitating connection? My research has confirmed my hypothesis, so my thesis would be something along the lines of “Virtual third places facilitate trust-building interactions that aid in promoting the social cohesion needed for a resilient community.” Or something like that.
This was a very interesting process! I think ultimately I didn’t gain as much as I thought I would because I couldn’t expand and develop my ideas any more — I had to cut things out. I’ve been doing research on building trust online, but I couldn’t include it because I ran out of space. I’m looking forward to doing our build-outs next week so I can go into more depth instead of skimming the surface. Some things I’ll try to focus on are: developing my thesis statement, incorporating my framing question more smoothly into my introduction, finishing my data analysis, and coming up with more broad implications. Lots to do!!