After Tuesday night’s three-alarm fire, the building on 4945 Broadway, at the corner of West 207th Street and Broadway, is slated for demolition. Meanwhile, neighboring stores on the block are already noticing less foot traffic, even though they will remain open.
“Not too many people are walking around,” said Jeff Mansour, manager of Alejandro Furniture. “There’s already less foot traffic.”
Today was unseasonably warm with a high of 58 degrees. Despite the sunny weather, Mansour said that fewer customers were looking at the furniture displayed outside, probably deterred by scaffolding.
“This is usually much busier,” Mansour said. “A lot of people didn’t even know there was a fire.”
Customers leaving K & R Florists – which will not be torn down – said, “Well, I’m glad they’re still here,” even though the shop is beside the demolition site and surrounded by barriers.
In the early days of television, minister Fred Rogers felt disgusted at the lack of educational children’s programming. He developed Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, an immensely beloved program that first aired nationally in 1968. “I went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there was some way of using this fabulous instrument to be of nurture to those who would watch and listen,” he explained in a CNN interview.[1]
Rogers’ statement gave me chills when I heard it on a random program in 2010; in the dawn of social media, his sentiments are particularly poignant, hugely influential in the topic of my graduate thesis: “College students’ perceptions of the use of Facebook for educating college students about health.”
My interest in Facebook surprised me. I consider myself a digital laggard, expecting snickers each year I upgrade my Atari-style cell phone. Also, I am a Facebook convert, having spent years thinking, “Who cares about what you ate for dinner?” Lately, I think Facebook and similar technologies can be used to help people.
For the first time, people who are “just like me,” can share health stories on Facebook pages run by trustworthy organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Red Cross. Interests drive content (consumer-to-source or bottom-to-top) and allow widespread sharing (side-to-side or horizontal communication)[7] with just the click of a mouse.
I complete my graduate thesis this December! In the weeks that follow, I will herald other health-promoting technologies! In the meantime, take a look at the Mister Rogers YouTube video. He was an example of someone use used media for the common good.
[1] Millman, J. (1999, August 10). “Salon Brilliant Careers: Fred Rogers.Retrieved July 30, 2010, from Salon Media Group.
[5] Selkie, E.; Benson, M.; Moreno, M. (2011, July 1). Adolescents’ views regarding uses of social networking websites and text messaging for adolescent sexual health education.(Social Media and Health Education)(Report). American Journal of Health Education.
[6] Barnes, M., Hanson, C., McIntyre, E., Neiger, B., Thackeray, R., & West, J. (2011, July-August). Use and acceptance of social media among health educators. American Journal of Health Education, 42(4), 197.
[7] Thackeray, R., Neiger, B.L., Hanson C.L., & McKenzie, J.F. (2008). Enhancing promotional strategies within social marketing programs: use of Web 2.0 social media. Health Promot Pract, 9(4):338-343.
