[BCMA] Putting Facebook to Work

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

Maple Ridge Museum & Community Archives has been both witness and 
participant in a real Facebook phenomenon this year.Begun in spring by a 
handful of local residents -- starting to feel their age and planning a 
high school reunion -- the members of the group called "We Call It 
Haney!" were happily chatting about their shared memories when it came 
to my attention.Spotting a potential opportunity, I started posting 
images from our photo collection to match the topics they were 
discussing -- schools, fast-food restaurants, and other teen 
magnets.Soon I was able to put them to work identifying photos of 
buildings, places and people that we had no information on.And the site 
took off.

In an amazing display of "and they told two friends, and so on", the 
group has now grown to more than 1,000 people.Not only are they 
identifying images for me, they are adding depth to the attached stories 
with a level of corroboration most historians can only dream of.They are 
also putting up their own images and donating those to the community 
archives along with other documents and artefacts that they hadn't known 
what to do with.Finally, and perhaps most important, they are showing 
our PTB how deep and widespread the enthusiasm for community history is.

This can happen in any community but it has to happen organically with a 
grass-roots source.Regularly search Facebook for your community's name 
and check out groups that form.You never know which one you could 
provide with a catalyst for growth that could turn it into a real 
community asset.It is an idea that is spreading.Someone linked me to a 
group about Port Alberni as I spent my teen years there and between 
August 26 and today, it has gathered 587 members.


Val Patenaude
Maple Ridge Museum & Community Archives
Maple Ridge, BC
mrmuseum at gmail.com

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