A beautiful day in the neighborhood

By Lora Dow

People often look at me skeptically when I talk about building community on the web. I’ll admit that I can be a bit cynical myself some days with all the silly Facebook apps and hoopla about the Old Spice guy on Twitter. But last week, an iPhone and a few social media apps changed how I felt about the city I’ve lived in for 18 years.

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The rain started around 5 pm and didn’t let up for hours. “Rain” isn’t really an adequate word, though, to describe the sheets of water that fell from the sky. Some parts of the city got 11 inches of rain in just a little over an hour. Streets became rivers and washed away cars. Foundations were washed out from under houses. And basements all over the greater Milwaukee area were flooded with rainwater and backed-up sewage.

Throughout the storm, Twitter was abuzz.  At first the remarks were of the “Gees, should we have built that ark?” variety.  Before long, we had our own hashtag: #brewcityflood. Some of us were blatant gawking at the spectacle of it all. (But how can the picture of a sinkhole that swallowed an Escalade whole and or the water outside AJBombers not make your jaw drop a little?)  By 10 pm, the tweets had taken on the decided tone of gallows humor.

As the evening wore on though, you couldn’t help but notice all the tweets that were, well, neighborly. People were checking in with each other. Even as the power went out, smart phones allowed people to share which roads were open, which were closed. Twitter was even faster than the local news (which was on air all evening) at reporting what was happening around the city.

Most of all, Twitter was a community looking out for each other. Offering moral support, offering information and even offering shelter.

We went from a group of people promoting our businesses, our blogs, our neuroses, to a community.

But the story doesn’t end there.

One of our own experienced terrible damage to their home.  And, in less than a week, people who only know each other through Twitter are now holding a fundraiser to help Tim and Jess and baby Clara.  They’re supporting his small business.  They’re providing support and encouragement and food and expertise.

In the past, I’ve often referred to Twitter as my water cooler. As someone who works at home, I use it for a quick break of humor, gossip or an interesting link. But you know what? Somewhere along the way, Twitter became part of my neighborhood.

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