Area blogs attract: Love Where you Live

North Beach resident Emma Guthrie said she wanted to create an online community but did not expect the thousands of followers she now has on ‘Love Where You Live’ Instagram and Facebook pages.

“I created a ‘go to’ online community to share snapshot interviews with local businesses, tips for places to eat, drink and take the kids,” Ms Guthrie said.

“I have a lot of interaction with my followers; everyone is just as passionate as I am about this gorgeous coastline.”

Ms Guthrie said she had a ‘Local Love – 5 Questions in 5 Minutes’ section to profile local businesses.

“People have been so welcoming and forthcoming with their stories and it’s so interesting to hear the real story about how a business came to life,” she said.

“I saw a niche market of untapped stories and I wanted to get to know my community on a more personal level.”

Ms Guthrie has lived in the coastal area for 14 years and said people were “spoiled for choice” living on the coast.

“There are cool cafés, bars and beautiful boutique stores, along with a community vibe rivalling the South-West,” she said.

Derek Gerrard has lived in Scarborough for 25 years and runs blog We Love Scarborough.

Mr Gerrard said Scarborough was a great place with many events, venues and colourful characters.

“There is such great diversity here and each person has a part to play in making it a great place,” he said.

“I have travelled a lot but Scarborough beach still has to be one of the best in the world.”

Mr Gerrard said We Love Scarborough had more than 1000 followers in the blogs’ first two weeks.

“We’ve only been going for four weeks and have a regular stream of local businesses and events wanting to be included in the site,” he said.

“The idea was to create an online community, a place that showcases the great people and locations, as well as somewhere locals and tourists can go to see what is happening.”

David Speyers’ Facebook page ‘Scarborough Life’ is an insider’s guide to the suburb with more than 5000 likes.

Mr Speyers said he initially set the page up to keep in contact with past clients but the idea grew from there.

“I knew a lot of people in Scarborough and so got inside information on what was happening in the area,” he said.

“I had no idea it was going to be as popular as it has been, there are great discussions on the comments section under a lot of the posts.”

Mr Speyers said many people had said they found the page useful. “It gives them so many updates on what is happening and the discussions that locals have on the page are also what has made it so good,” he said.

“Reading comments gives a quick insight into what people think of the area and its developments.”