Location: PSH (Professor Stuart Hall Building) - 305,
Goldsmiths, University of London, Building 2
Campus Map Contributors:
- Magdalena Baborska-Narozny, Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland
- Eve Stirling, Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom
- Fionn Stevenson, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
The emergence and thriving or dying out of social network Facebook groups aimed at connecting otherwise anonymous people that live in a single urban development is a new phenomenon. Within residential developments there are a number of common management and performance issues experienced by many isolated inhabitants and found through building performance evaluation studies. Facebook is a ubiquitous and powerful communication platform particularly popular among young adults. This paper explores the use of Facebook in relation to those issues in two cases of Facebook Group usage within residential communities in the UK. Data was collected through longitudinal digital and physical visits to the residential communities and to the Facebook Group sites. Findings are presented in relation to home learning, site/neighbourhood and self-organising initiatives. We propose that weak-tie residential communities can develop collective efficacy and work together for the overall good of the residential development through communicating on a Facebook Group. This helps to improve the physical environment, facilitating further collective action. There is a clear overlap between social media narrative and the physical experience of daily life which can help to empower residents
