“Hearken! The Subway Buskers Sing”
Using an Online Tool to Engage an Offline Community
More and more journalists nowadays are putting their ego aside and adopting stories driven by the community. Hearken is a relatively new online platform that provides journalists with the right tools to find out what communities need or want to know before the reporting process even starts. When journalists partner with the communities they report on, amazing things can happen.
This past semester, my Community Engagement class (led by Jeff Jarvis & Dr. Carrie Brown) used Hearken to gather questions from people in various communities across New York City. With these questions, we hoped to reveal some of the informational needs and desires that the communities have.
The community I am focusing on this year is buskers (a.k.a. street and subway performers) in New York City. The NYC busking community consists of anyone who performs in public for tips or donations. The types of performances vary but most buskers sing, dance, and/or play an instrument on streets, in parks, and subway stations. Their community is quite diverse, varying in age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, level of education, and many other demographics.
My goal of applying Hearken to the NYC busking community was to collect questions performers had about the ‘busking scene’ (the act of busking, the busking community, other buskers, anything that they were curious about). In order to gather these questions, I created a Hearken module allowing the community to easily input their questions:
My plan was to embed the module on websites and share the link with the online busking community. So, with my Hearken module ready, I began scouring the web for networks of street and subway performers to share it with; Facebook groups, Facebook pages, MeetUp groups, Twitter accounts, advocacy organizations, and anywhere NYC buskers could be found on one network. But unfortunately, I kept striking out… Facebook groups and pages are scarce, MeetUp doesn’t have any busking groups in NYC, Twitter accounts dedicated to busking were inactive, and BuskNY (an advocacy organization for buskers) was not interested in sharing the module on their website.
I was surprised to learn that the NYC busking community is lacking a communal presence online. Individual members of the busking community certainly exist on various social media networks, but the overall busking community is largely fragmented throughout the web.
Facebook for Buskers?
The Busking Project is the closest thing to an online social network for buskers. The Busking Project revolves around the promotion of individual performers by providing them with a platform to share all of their information with their fans like types of performances, pictures, videos, social media accounts, etc. Fans are even able to tip them directly through the phone app. Communication on the network is possible between buskers by sending each other private messages, but the site is not set up to allow active communication between members of busking communities in specific cities. Instead, The Busking Project has public forums that buskers from around the world can contribute to.
Although many individual performers are benefitting from The Busking Project’s network, I was disappointed to find it lacking the capability and communal atmosphere for intimate communication to happen between performers within specific busking communities (like the one in New York City). So I had to ask myself, do NYC buskers even want and/or need to communicate with each other? Why is there such a lack of online communication between them in the first place?
I thought of a few possible reasons… First, there is rarely any internet access or phone reception in NYC subway stations. If a problem or question were to come up, many buskers would not be able to relay their question, comment, or concern with anyone in the community. However, that situation does not apply to the entire busking community since there are many buskers who perform on the street, in parks, or in stations where phone service and internet access is available… So why don’t those buskers have a strong online network?
I believe it comes down to the unique situation that the busking community is in — many street and subway performers are independent musicians who actually compete with other members of the community. They are entrepreneurs who make money by providing a service (entertainment) to the public. Like a business, buskers try their best to keep competition at bay. Therefore, why would they share useful information and advice with people who could potentially steal their spotlight? I spoke to many performers who expressed their motivations behind busking and most of them said that earning tips was one of the reasons why they do it. Although money is not the #1 motivation for all street and subway performers, the reality is that the community is bound by the definition of busking: “to play music or otherwise perform for voluntary donations in the street or in subways.” Accepting donations is part of what being a busker means.
The lack of online engagement among NYC buskers was a sign that they may not even have the need or desire for an online communication network. However, I thought maybe they could still benefit from one… If I wanted to find out, I needed to find a way to gather the community’s questions.
Ditching the Technology
I was unsuccessful at collecting questions online, so I ventured out into the community to gather some questions myself. During my time “in the field,” I spoke to many performers about their busking experiences and gathered some questions and concerns they had about the ‘busking scene.’ I decided to focus on performers in subway stations because of the complex circumstances they deal with while busking underground. My unlimited Metrocard really came in handy!
All of the subway performers I talked with had unique experiences and perspectives on busking. For example, 21-year-old Alyssa Vandall was fairly new to the busking scene. She mostly asked questions about busking locations:
- “Which stations have the best acoustics?”
- “How are specific subway stations laid out?”
- “What is the culture/vibe like around each subway station?”
Through her questions, Alyssa was clearly expressing a need for specific information about subway stations and whether or not they were suitable for her type of performance.
Her questions even inspired me to create a prototype for an online tool that helps NYC buskers view potential busking locations in 14th Street Union Square subway station.
Another subway performer named Chris Bates, 23, was also a newcomer to busking, but his questions were more about general busking information and rules:
- “Will I get in trouble for busking here?”
- “Do I have to audition to perform in the subway?”
- “Where are the MTA employees and workers stationed?”
Chris’ questions expressed a need for information about the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s (MTA) rules regarding busking and how to avoid getting in trouble.
In total, I collected eleven questions from four buskers. Most of the questions surprised me because either I had assumed that buskers already knew the answer to the question, or the question never even crossed my mind. This was a valuable reminder that I need to disregard any previous assumptions I have about communities. Members of the community always know best.
My Hearken Powered Story
With the questions I gathered, I followed the Hearken approach and wrote a news story called Unlawful Busting of Buskers that addressed two of Chris’ questions: “Will I get in trouble for busking here?” and “Do I have to audition to perform in the subway?”
After publishing the story, I wanted to hear what the community had to say about it. When I shared the story with some NYC buskers, Malcolm Kemp, a 22-year-old saxophonist, responded: “Thank u so much for doing this and giving us a voice,” he said. “Some are playing for money but on behalf of those of us that play because we love to see the happiness on people’s faces, thank u so much.” Yay, Hearken!
I ended up benefitting a lot by gathering questions from buskers in person. Being present put a name to my face which helped them let their guard down and talk openly about their experiences. Speaking with buskers in person also allowed me to connect and stay in touch with those I met. In addition to their questions, I was able to gather other valuable insights about their community which contributed to a news story that accurately described the challenges and questions that buskers face. Although my experience with the Hearken tool was not successful, my experience with Hearken’s philosophy was.
In Retrospect…
I should have approached buskers online differently. Even though an online community of NYC buskers who actively communicated with each other did not exist, I should have individually contacted the buskers on social media and shared the module with them. I also could have distributed small cards or fliers with the module’s link and information on them for buskers to possibly access later.
In addition, although I managed to collect many questions from the community, they were from only four individuals. In order to accurately represent of the diversity of the busking community in the future, I will be collecting questions from more people.
Despite my failed attempt, I have not given up on Hearken’s online tools just yet. With a different approach, and by building my own network of buskers, I am confident that Hearken will become very useful in connecting with the NYC busking community. But with or without their technology, Hearken’s philosophy will continue to be the foundation of my work with NYC buskers.
