Facebook groups are the new protest march -- the lazy activist's way to get media attention.
But does it work? Well, kinda. Remember the Facebook event page that asked people to show up at the defunct South Side Irish Parade "Anyways"? It caught media and police attention, but didn't bring a wave of drinkers to the Western Avenue parade route in Beverly.
Well, there's a growing Facebook group "People Against the Malling of Wrigleyville" -- 11,692 "members" strong and counting -- that did catch my eye, after all.
This group of socially networked 'friends' want to kill a plan to tear down a city block of eclectic businesses at Clark and Addison to make way for an upscale hotel, Best Buy, Dominick's, an Apple Store, a CVS Pharmacy and a boatload of parking.
The proposal, which has Ald. Tom Tunney's backing, would level the IO Theater, Salt and Pepper Diner, Goose Island, Mullen's bar and Grill, Bar Louie and Red Ivy and a couple of pizza joints.
The "Save Wrigleyville Now" Facebook manifesto goes like this:
"Residents of the area and the business owners have joined forces to heighten awareness for the families of these businesses, the patron, the Cubs fan, and certainly those who generally oppose the loss of one of the most regarded neighborhoods in Chicagoland. Frankly said - these are the places on Clark that residents and patrons WANT to keep - not shops that are found in malls that you can frequent elsewhere, or new clubs that pop in and turn over each month. A beige, concrete mall from Clark/Addison to nearly Clark/Cornelia will alter the heart of Wrigley."
The Facebook group was started by Tara DeFrancisco, who describes herself as a liberal from Ohio, on her personal Facebook page. The group asks fellow social networkers to join the Facebook page and sign a petition to "show Ald. Tom Tunney what matters to the people of the 44th Ward." (So far, a little more than 600 Facebook people have signed the petition.)
Tunney's reaction, "Yeah, I heard about it."
The 44th Ward alderman and owner of Ann Sather's Restaurant, said he
respects the Facebook "youth movement," but they are misinformed.
Addison Park on Clark project has been vetted and has lots of neighborhood support, Tunney said. The alderman says the development will be good for neighbors and improve a current business climate that's often "feast or famine" and dependent on Cubs games and events at Wrigley Field.
Here's the original story by City Hall reporter Fran Spielman from earlier this month.
It's easy to argue -- and I would agree -- that for years Wrigleyville has been growing increasingly suburban (read Naperville) and home to transient 20-something apartment dwellers from Iowa, Ohio and Michigan.
I mean, who's really going to miss Bar Louie (which is very suburban, there's even one in Milwaukee) or Red Ivy and a couple of greasy pizza places? Nobody. The IO Theater, you could argue, will be missed. But they'll just find a new location, hopefully one with some parking.
Is it really worth getting riled up about? Really? If it was would Wrigleyvillians only rely on Facebook to get their point across? When the "Save Lincoln Square" people wanted to a stretch of local businesses from eminent domain a few years back they marched on Ald. Eugene "Mean Gene" Schulter's office. Then, Schulter killed the idea.
These online activists filled with faux Facebook outrage will have to log off and get off their butts. Otherwise, they're just Twittering their thumbs.
At his best, Mark Konkol is a White Sox fan. He lives on the South Side. He
enjoys cold beer. At one time or another over the last 10 years, he's covered Chicago and Cook County government, city schools, transportation and the ins-and-outs of neighborhood life. E-mail him at 
That Konkol, he's a character!
Hey, Mark -
This was forwarded to me - doesn't look like many have seen it yet, so I wanted to quickly write a few words of my own. I'm not sure why you cornered me on this... I didn't write the copy for the site, but my name is in your article. As a performer for several theatres in town, I suppose it may have seemed appropriate to come after me; Certainly no one attempted to contact me about information. I was originally asked to start the "Malling" page to simply share information we received from media with the residents of Wrigleyville after May 9th (when Alderman Tunney backed the plan for the first time) who had not been contacted by letter in the area. Since, we use the page very little as there's been low need (and restrictions on contacting members on facebook over 5000) - the paper petitions are out in the 44th ward on foot as well as inside each business slated for demolition. As I understand it, there are over 5,000 signatures, and the online option is simply for people that can't reach a paper copy, but you may be better informed by the people who own those businesses, not a woman who does improv for a living.
You were right, though - there is a rising trend to click a button and not care beyond things; I can assure you even though you painted me in that light, the page was started to collect folks and get them to do progressive things, which seems to be happening off the internet.
Thanks!
Tara
Konkol reply,
Thanks for writing Tara. I did attempt to contact you yesterday and I'm glad you sent this reply. Thanks for reading, and the update.
Facebook or any other site where you leave ANY personal information is exploitable by bad guys. They place secure stops in place for security, and to keep your information private but, any attempt to secure public information on a site like facebook is frankly like trying to keep water in a cup full of holes. It leaks.
We don't live in the fifties anymore. Beaver Cleaver has been replaced by a Tiger...
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I think people have to realize that anything you do, say, upload, comment can be copied, stolen, edited, or used against you in the future. There is nothing private about the Internet and there never will be.