Megalopolis X Communities

Recently, eCairn started a new project on city-based communities. The idea is to map influencers who talk about the place where they live - from restaurants to local policies and art exhibits. So far, there are over 400 influencers identified in New York City, San Francisco and Chicago. We took a snapshot of the communities from these cities to check out what has been on their agendas in the last six months.

Starting by Chicago, we can see in the expression cloud that the three F's (Family, Food and Friends) play an important role in that community. Other than that, Chicagoans also have their education system on close watch. Parks and local transportation also rank high in the list.

Out West, San Franciscans seem more preoccupied with public safety. The hot housing market in the Bay Area is also on the radar of people living in that region. Like Chicagoans, these Californians regularly mention their family and friends in their posts on social media.

It is interesting to point out that New York shows up with relevant weight when we extract the 50 most popular expressions in both tribes. The name of the city is ranked 14th in the San Francisco tribe, and 15th in the Chicago one. When we look at the conversations, we see that influencers frequently use New York as a point of comparison.

Talking about the Big Apple, New Yorkers do not make any reference to other cities. Besides business, the locals seem much more into entertainment and culture. Among the most popular expressions are words like art, park, play and restaurant. However, the life these influencers describe in their posts does not have too many references to family or friends.

What do influencers from Chicago, San Francisco and New York City have in common, then? Their sense of community. This expression is among the most popular ones for influencers nationwide, showing that regardless of their preferences or the size of the city, the sense of community remains very strong in the US.