Page 10 - CooperatorNews Chicagoland Winter 2022

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Since 1906 under discussion by the board, we will bring to a restaurant, or buy a product online, you new matters to their attention.” And while will always be asked to leave a review.” Goodman’s company doesn’t currently use social media for communications with cli- ent buildings, she acknowledges, “that could building and then goes onto a commentary change in the future.” In the writer’s own building, a 54-unit amazing their new community is. Howev- co-op in Upper Manhattan, New York, with er, he says, “if folks are unsatisfied with the a large community garden in back of the place, they will use social media commen- building, communications are even more tary platforms to complain. So most of the basic; there’s an old-fashioned cork bulletin time, it’s negative commentary. And that’s a board in the hallway that leads to the garden. problem, because it’s unfair and the sponsor If anyone has a message about anything for or developer is unable to respond or react.” their neighbors, including using the back- yard for a private event, it gets prominently posted there in bright, bold magic marker. Zachary Kestenbaum is CEO of the marker notes thumbtacked to a cork board aforementioned BuildingLink, a company in the hallway? Yes. that provides many forms of computer and smartphone-based community and man- agement apps for multifamily properties, ties with a way to communicate electronical- including co-ops, condos, and HOAs. He says he has come across buildings and associations that have tried popular social media plat- forms like Facebook and Instagram as tools for communi- ty-building. Accord- ing to him, these efforts usually take the form of private Facebook groups, but “they don’t work for several reasons. First of all, it’s a separate platform that’s not integrated into the life of the com- munity, so there’s very little engagement—a teresting thing that occurred during COVID low level of participation and community was that in many buildings, residents used penetration. Second, these forums are free- form and not moderated, so anything can things like doing grocery runs for high-risk get posted—and that’s a minefield. Groups neighbors, or to raise money for sick staff form that can cause conflict within the com- munity, or make existing conflicts worse. It to second homes during the initial wave of devolves quickly into a situation that’s not the pandemic even offered their apartments representative of the community as a whole, to neighbors for quarantining.” and people get turned off.” Where Real Estate & Social Media Meet Where do the worlds of real estate and ly—to supplement the virtual bulletin board social media interact? Josh Schuster, founder with general news and updates. The bulletin and managing principal of Silverback De- velopment, a New York-based property de- veloper of residential and mixed-use prop- erties, including condominiums, has had events for residents to see and RSVP for at- considerable experience trying to integrate tendance. By addressing specific functional- the two in his business. “Social media is a broad term,” he says. chat boards or private groups, “these plat- “For many people, three names come to forms short-circuit the nastiness social me- mind when one mentions social media: dia is so well known for,” says Kestenbaum. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. But we also have social media in terms of commen- tary. We live in an age of storytelling. Yelp, services ranging from virtual doormen to Google, Tripadvisor are good examples of maintenance and billing services for residen- this. Today, everyone thinks their opinion is important. Platforms serve as bullhorns for users, and everyone today wants to be heard and praised at an amplified level. If you go Schuster explains that in the world of residential real estate, no one buys into a platform to proclaim how wonderful and Viable Alternatives Is there something in between scathing reviews and gossipy posts online and magic- Kestenbaum explains that companies like his have alternatives that provide communi- ly while sidestepping many of the drawbacks of the big social me- dia platforms. “For example,” he says, “we have a module that’s part of Build- ingLink’s product that has multiple features, includ- ing a bulletin board that every resident has digital access to. They can post items there—looking for a babysitter, or selling a couch, say—and it’s fully moderated by the building’s managing agent for appropriate behavior and content. One in- the bulletin board to help each other out with members. Some residents who had relocated The company’s services also include email and newsletters—usually sent month- board is more real time. In terms of commu- nity-building, BuildingLink has a calendar feature where property managers can put up ity needs and steering clear of open-forum According to Neil Golub, director of sales for Carson Living, Inc., a provider of online CO-OPS, CONDOS... continued from page 1 “There should always be a marketplace to post items for sale and a space for announcing community events. It should be monitored, and must never turn into a gripe board.” — Neil Golub