Most people today are addicted to social media and the internet. You can now stream live news footage and follow stories or news of your interest from your phone, tablet or laptop. Social media has become something not only for people to connect but to stay informed about the world around them. However, there are still many people who do not have any type of social media account or may not be on the same social media sites as some informative news or projects are.
I have been with this project since the Fall of 2017 and even though this semester we had a local news crew do a story on us I still don’t think we have reached out to much of the community. The class however was able to gain at least three platforms with that exposure. Not only was the class featured on TV but the story was also put online and in the newspaper by the news station. Here we were able to reach people both on and off the internet or social media. It occurred to me though; the graves at the cemetery are decades old. Some graves are those of relatively young adults from the 1930’s- 1960’s; if they have any surviving relatives they may not be on any type of social media. Not many of our elders have social media or regularly use the internet. Another thing to consider is that most Hispanic families of the RGV especially the older generations primarily speak and understand only Spanish. Perhaps this fall we can contact Telemundo 48 (Noticias del Valle del Rio Grande) to be able to reach out to a greater population of the community. If we continue promote using the internet and social media to communicate with the community we should consider the community we are working with and have the information available in both Spanish and English.
Another tool that can be used to communicate with the local community is radio stations. Yes most people listen to radio stations online but there are still those who listen to local radio stations. Some businesses also have a local radio station playing in their facility. Again I would suggest a local Spanish and a local English radio station.
