[URBAN NOTE] "Crowdsourcing the City’s Narrative"

[rfmcdonald]

Torontoist's Kelli Korducki interviews the founder of a popular Facebook forum that I might quite like.

Torontoist: What’s your personal background?

I’m originally from Welland, Ontario. I am an artist of many sorts, but my education is in graphic design and illustration. Right now, I’m working on personal projects involving digital collage and curating an upcoming art exhibit while attending French classes full time.

What gave you the idea to start a Facebook group inviting people to share their day-to-day observations?

I had to live without the privilege of a smartphone for a while, and it made me realize how much people live in their screens and are oblivious to what is going on around them. (They are often a common topic of the group themselves.) I’d often post things on my personal Facebook page about things I would see “on the street”; I love to tell stories and write creatively, and the comments from my friends were always hilarious. After a few months of thinking about how cool it would be to start a Facebook page for the same thing, I started the group “What Did You See On The Street Today?” in July 2014 to post exactly that, with the main rule of there being no photos allowed. Technology and the internet dominate us with images every day whether we like it or not, so it’s also an homage to the written word, which is a very big part of the purpose.

It’s interesting how the group become so Toronto-centric when you live in Montreal.

I lived in Toronto for a few years, then moved to Montreal in May 2013. Many of the contributors are my friends from when I lived there, and my friends’ friends, their extended circles, etc. The group is international and we get posts from all over the world, and from many different age groups and backgrounds, but the demographic I belong to in Toronto definitely accounts for a huge percentage.