Cantonites finding value in community Facebook groups

When Jennifer McDaid Garbuzinski first heard the news about the tragic death of Canton kindergartener Kaleigh Kenyon last month, she did what thousands of other local residents did and immediately turned to Facebook.

Although she didn’t know the family personally and would not even be in town for the next two weeks, McDaid Garbuzinski still felt compelled to say or do something, and so she politely offered up a suggestion to the fellow members of the community group Everything Canton, MA.

The Canton Memorial Bow Project started with a suggestion posted on the “Everything Canton” Facebook group. (Michelle Stark photo)

“I am thinking one thing we could do [would be] to flood the town with pink ribbons,” she posted on February 5. “I don’t know Kaleigh or the family, but I did notice … that Kaleigh was wearing pink in the pictures I have seen … At least when the family passes through town, they would know Kaleigh is in our thoughts and prayers.”

McDaid Garbuzinski’s post turned out to be an instant hit, and literally within minutes, other members had taken the idea and already started to run with it. CJ King offered to coordinate the production of handmade bows, while several others volunteered to purchase or donate ribbons. And when reports began to surface that a second snowstorm accident victim had also perished, the project immediately expanded to include green bows in honor of lifelong Cantonite and beloved family man Tom Gunning.

The resulting “Canton Memorial Bow Project” would later spawn its own Facebook page and ultimately become a community-wide phenomenon, drawing in hundreds of volunteers and leading to an unprecedented visual display of support across all corners of the town.

For McDaid Garbuzinski, who grew up in Canton and operates McDaid Insurance on Washington Street, the success of the bow project was “truly overwhelming” and it spoke to the residents’ longstanding commitment and devotion to one another.

At the same time, the fact that a single online message could even have that type of impact underscores yet another interesting trend within the town — namely the growing influence and popularity of community-based Facebook groups.

Whereas the younger demographic seems to be abandoning the once ubiquitous social media platform in favor of trendier, mobile-based options such as Snapchat and Yik Yak, their parents and grandparents appear to be headed in the other direction, flocking to Facebook as a way to stay in touch with family and friends and engage with their neighbors.

Today, there are at least a half dozen such community groups geared specifically to Canton residents and natives, mostly of the older set — each serving a different function and with its own active membership.

Everything Canton, which is modeled after similar “Everything” groups in communities such as Weymouth and Braintree, is currently the largest with over 3,300 members and is also the broadest in scope. However, there is another group with a similar membership total — Canton Yard Sale — that facilitates the buying and selling of household items. There is also a Canton Bulletin Board group for posting community events, fundraisers, local business deals, and news bulletins, as well as a group dedicated to sharing memories of Canton’s yesteryear (You Know You Grew Up in Canton If…). There is even a public group called Canton Confidential, where members can explore the “deep dark secrets” and various other unsubstantiated rumors that lurk in the town.

“I enjoy the community groups,” McDaid Garbuzinski told the Citizen, appropriately enough, via Facebook messenger last week. “It’s a great way for people to stay in touch and to get information out in a timely manner. The only downside I have seen is that there are people who will use it as a soapbox and they are not always polite. However, I think the moderators of the groups I belong to do a good job of weeding those people out.”

In the case of Everything Canton, founder Sam Tamulevich actually started the group as a way to learn more about the community after moving to Canton with his wife in 2012.

“The main reason was I was looking for a plumber and an electrician,” noted Tamulevich, half jokingly.

In addition to searching for local business referrals, Tamulevich said he also saw the need for a community forum where locals could talk freely and openly about the issues that matter most to them.

“I remember there was a need for an ‘Everything’ group,” he said, “and then finally, I said, ‘You know what? I’m just going to start one.’”

After consulting with the administrators of the existing Canton groups, Tamulevich launched Everything Canton in 2014, and somewhat to his surprise, it quickly took off, emerging as a go-to destination for Canton-based discussion and debate.

Tamulevich said it works, in large part, because it has a clearly defined set of rules, which were developed early on with member input and are consistently enforced by himself and co-administrator Kathy McCormack. Those who break the rules receive a warning, he explained, and repeat offenders are subject to a suspension or a total ban.

Tamulevich estimated that he has removed or blocked no more than 20 members since the group’s inception. At the same time, he said he welcomes discussions and even “heated” debates, as long as people respect one another and the topic relates in some way to Canton.

“Everybody has the right to speak their mind in this group,” he said. “The first amendment privileges are alive and well here, and that’s what I think makes the group so interesting.”

Susan Carlson, another relative newcomer to the town, said she had the same idea for Canton Bulletin Board when she started the group two years ago.

Like Tamulevich, she saw the need for a community page that would promote local businesses and also foster greater community dialogue. She also limits membership to people who have some kind of connection to Canton, although she does not require individual posts to be related to the town.

“I want it to be local, but I don’t want Canton to be an island,” she said.

To date, Canton Bulletin Board has attracted roughly 1,300 members and remains a popular source for local business and event postings. As the owner of a local photography business herself, Carlson is happy to provide this type of forum for the community, although she would love to see more dialogue among group members.

“I’m at a little bit of a crossroads with that group, and I’m not quite sure how to nudge it into the direction that I want it to go,” she said. “I’m really hoping that over time it will evolve to have more interaction and more posts with discussion.”

As for the drawbacks of community groups such as theirs, both Carlson and Tamulevich agreed that disrespectful remarks are probably their number-one concern, although both have procedures in place to address that type of behavior. Tamulevich also acknowledged that misinformation can be an issue from time to time and that unlike with traditional media, members who disseminate information do not have the same burden of proof, so to speak.

Then again, Tamulevich said the members themselves do a good job of correcting inaccuracies, and rarely is the final response to a question incorrect, he said. Ultimately, he envisions more of an integration between traditional and social media, and he already expects a higher level of accountability with a community group because the members know one another. “After all, these are real people,” he said. “These are our neighbors and friends. They are not just internet entities.”

Overall, both Carlson and Tamulevich said they are happy with the responses they have gotten to date and with the connections they have forged through Facebook. Looking to the future, Carlson said she intends to stay open-minded and would not rule out any possibilities, including the idea of merging with another existing community group if doing so would better serve the members.

Tamulevich, meanwhile, continues to be amazed by the growth of Everything Canton and does not see the group fading any time soon.

“I would be very happy with upwards of 10,000 members,” he said, “although I don’t want to see people join the group who have nothing to do with Canton. But generally speaking, I’d say the more, the merrier.”

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Posted by Jay Turner on Mar 24 2016. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.