Super-Connected: Eastie "Mayor" takes social networking to new levels

Renee Scalfani discusses the changes in Eastie over the past 39 years

By Brooklynne Kelly Peters

4/30/10

There is a great deal of division in thought among scholars and experts about whether the positives of social media outweigh the negatives.  A study by Duke University in 2006 showed that Americans' social circles were shrinking due to their failure to engage with their communities.  Researchers claimed one of the possible reasons for this was because new technology was allowing people to connect over longer distances, but lessened individuals' face-time with close friends and family. 

Scholars and experts may be divided about the community benefits of social media, but not the unofficial "Mayor" of East Boston, Renee Scalfani. Scalfani, 39, is the self-appointed, unofficial "mayor" of East Boston.  She spends an average of 25-30 hours a week on the social networking site Facebook, sending out two to three mass messages a day to groups she started, including the Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association. 

"We get so much feedback on Facebook.  It's unbelievable," said Scalfani.  "When I send a message out, two to three hundred people can get that one message instead of trying to get everyone as they're coming home from work or walking by.  And they all get that message.  And that's what I love about it." 

East Boston resident Steve Holt disagrees with Scalfani about the benefits of instantaneous connection.  He said that the Internet provides people the opportunity like never before to insulate themselves against people with opinions that conflict with their own. 

"We grow by being challenged in our assumptions," said Holt, "and too often, Internet communities are just vast echo chambers for like-minded people.  Instead of sitting on the front porch of a restaurant shooting the breeze with people who may or may not agree with us (but are our neighbors), we can find 'comfort zones' on the Internet.  In more mixed social media settings (like Facebook), we can 'turn off' feeds that we'd rather not read."

Scalfani is a proud, life-long resident of East Boston.    Today she lives in the same house she grew up in with her grandmother, who has lived in East Boston for 79 years.  Scalfani has watched the East Boston community morph over the years.  As a child, she remembers sitting out on the sidewalk with her friends, eating a hot loaf of bread from A & L Bakery down on Sumner Street. 

Scalfani can still be found on that same sidewalk on most any day, laughing with her neighbors or meeting new people.  local business owner Rob Pyles said people like Scalfani are what make East Boston a successful community.

"I actually think East Boston is an exception to the rule," Pyles said.  "People are wired here in Eastie, but I find that there's a greater connectivity among residents here.  People do hang out in each other's houses.  People do know their neighbors.  I think withdrawing or carefully selecting what media you subject yourself to really allows you to choose your priorities."

Despite the fact that she spends so much time online, Scalfani said she meets most of her new neighbors on the street.  She then uses social networking to connect with her new friends and help them integrate into the community.

"I believe Facebook does wonders," she said.  "When we have a [park] clean up... we all correspond through Facebook.  I think [the Internet] is doing us good.  You get to communicate with your neighbors.  You make plans to do clean-ups or get-togethers."

Although Scalfani doesn't have an official title, her influence reaches to the mayor's office.  When she found out that Eagle Hill, a section of East Boston, was having its streets cleaned, she Facebooked the East Boston liaison, Ernani DeAraujo, to get street cleaning for the rest of the neighborhood. 

"I like to get things done," Scalfani said.  "I take pride in my neighborhood.  I love it."

Scalfani has 911 friends on Facebook, but her online social networking ends there.  She doesn't have a Twitter or LinkedIn account.   She said that the Internet works for the benefit of the community, as long as its users combine its use with face-to-face interaction.

"You have to get involved.  That's the main thing," Scalfani said.  "You can't complain if you don't get involved."