Staying Informed And Engaged In 2013
Continuing the theme from Saturday (Political Engagement & Social Media) I want to talk more about engagement. Many people are working hard to make a difference in St. Louis, each doing their best. Some are involved in more than one effort.
Some seemed upset that last week’s City Affair panel discussion on political engagement wasn’t mentioned in the places they check, so they didn’t know about the event in advance. To help out here is how you can contact some local mainstream media:
This may come as a complete shock, but the people who work hard to put together events like City Affair, Pecha-Kucha STL, etc. don’t actually get to dictate what ends up on mainstream media. Media outlets have consultants, market research and assignment editors that decide what to tell you about.
Here at UrbanReviewSTL.com I’m the only one responsible for what is, and isn’t, presented here. I generally don’t blog about an event before it happens, I like to attend, take a pic or two, then maybe post something about it afterwards. That’s what I did on Saturday. That said, I do share additional information via the UrbanReviewSTL Facebook page and Twitter account. When event organizers send me ads for upcoming events I run those for free. For example: Wall Ball 2013, an fundraiser for Saint Louis City Open Studio and Gallery.
Not on Facebook or Twitter? Sorry, I can’t call or mail you a postcard to tell you about everything going on in the city you might find of interest. Those who spend hours putting together interesting events also don’t have the time to call you. Another way to stay informed is to stop into places where much activity originates, such as St. Louis Curio Shoppe and STL-Style, both on Cherokee St. RSS is the best way to stay current with many blogs/websites, see What is RSS? to help you get started.
The biggest problem with many of these events is you’d think by those attending the city was 98% white middle class. Last week I told a couple of other gay friends how well represented gay men were at the event, females comprised at least half the crowd, that’s good. But racial minorities were very few, not remotely close to our demographics, not good at all.
Not sure why these events are overwhelmingly white. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project blacks use Twitter at twice the rate of whites, hispanics have a slight lead over whites too:
Several demographic groups stand out as having high rates of Twitter usage relative to their peers:
- African-Americans — Black internet users continue to use Twitter at high rates. More than one quarter of online African-Americans (28%) use Twitter, with 13% doing so on a typical day.
- Young adults — One quarter (26%) of internet users ages 18-29 use Twitter, nearly double the rate for those ages 30-49. Among the youngest internet users (those ages 18-24), fully 31% are Twitter users.
- Urban and suburban residents — Residents of urban and suburban areas are significantly more likely to use Twitter than their rural counterparts.
I suppose the fact the last tweet from the City Affair Twitter account (@CityAffair) was on October 7, 2011. Looks like they need to review this wikiHow on How to Link Tumblr to Twitter. But even once tweeting again I realize the composition of those in attendance isn’t going to change without more effort.
But it’s 2013, don’t check your postal mailbox for a newsletter.
— Steve Patterson