September Blog Post- Audrey Garcia

Community has been a vital concept since the beginning of civilization. Science has proven that when a living thing is not apart of the community it’s survival rate is significantly smaller than those who are proactive in there’s. In Communication: A Critical/Cultural Introduction there is a specific line that made me take a complete different perspective on community that doesn’t involve biological reasons. The authors state that they believe “communication makes a community”. ( Warren and Fasset, p. 40)  Through our numerous years of schooling, students look at why community is important through the lens of science. We have been repeatedly taught that a community consist of all the organisms in that environment and how important each individual role is for the overall success. But the authors in Communication: A Critical/Cultural Introduction give the reader a different outlook that it’s one of our roles in society to help change the community through communication.  When there is a societal issue in the community or something that you think needs to be changed you can change it just through expressing your voice in the community.

Facebook is a place that is a hub for communication with other people.  When people effectively communicate through Facebook they can inform people of issues that is happening in the community. A perfect example is the pit bull ban in Montreal, Canada. People are outraged, not just in the community but worldwide. There is a currently a petition that has 70,000 signatures calling the Montreal government to repeal there Breed Specific Legislation. After numerous locals posted about the new legislation passed in their city, the SPCA and local veterinarians have vocally came out and said they will not support the euthanasia of animals for no reason. They will break any contract with the local government if they don’t repeal this ban. Hopefully the outrage will lead the local officials to change the law. But because communication happened in the community it highlighted that this law was not popular among the citizens and a change has to happen for them to be satisfied. Facebook is a place that has open communication barriers and people join together to  make differences in there community. In my opinion, I think its one of the beauties of social media.

I didn’t realize the importance of communication when it came to the impact on the community. When we communicate with a colleague or a friend it’s very rare we don’t share our opinions about topics. Effective communication between people creates discussions that can lead to a change in something. Facebook is a platform for people to make and shape their community. There are tons of Facebook pages for all types of communities. Cities and towns have Facebook pages where the people of the community can actively talk about issues and improvements needed. When enough people get together and start communicating about the next steps to productively change their community, it supports the idea that communication makes the community. We often overlook the importance of communication and how much it constantly evolves our society.

Warren, J. T., & Fassett, D. L. (2011). Communication: A critical/cultural introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.