Building a Different Kind of Local Conversation
The page has been getting a ton of views lately, and we genuinely want to thank everybody for the support. Over the last 30 days, Eyes On EB has received more than 320,000 views, with nearly 90% of them coming directly from East Brunswick and surrounding towns.
We think people were looking for a more modern style of local content — something that felt more connected to what residents were actually discussing in real time. That’s what we’ve tried to build with Eyes On EB.
What really stands out to us is that about 76% of those views came from non-followers. For a page with just under 3,000 followers, that suggests the content is reaching far beyond its existing followers. It means residents are sharing posts, discussions are spreading organically, and people who may not even follow the page are still consistently seeing and engaging with the content.
We’ve also seen strong growth across video content, with 3-second video views up more than 200% and 1-minute views up nearly 1,000% over the last month. That tells us people are not only clicking on content, but are actually spending time watching and following along with the conversations happening in town.
One thing we’ve learned is that we never want to post just to post. Sometimes that means there may be a few quiet days, but we’d rather focus on topics we genuinely feel residents should either be aware of or actually care about. The goal has never been to flood timelines with content just for engagement.
It’s also been a lot of fun hyper-focusing on the topics the community seems most concerned about, adding context and nuances where we can, and then watching East Brunswick residents fill in some of the blanks through their own experiences, opinions, and discussions. In many ways, that has become one of the most rewarding parts of building this platform.
Recently, someone mentioned that Eyes On EB created a “blue ocean.” We finally decided to look up what that really meant, and honestly, it made perfect sense. A blue ocean is about creating your own lane rather than competing in an overcrowded space.
Most local Facebook groups tend to become chaotic discussion boards where conversations move fast and context gets lost. On the other hand, traditional local news outlets often don’t cover the smaller, hyperlocal nuances residents talk about every day. There really wasn’t a platform that consistently combined local videos, meeting breakdowns, commentary, memes, polls, articles, trending discussions, and community conversations in one place.
At the end of the day, none of this works without the community itself. The discussions, perspectives, disagreements, corrections, added context, and shared experiences are what truly make the platform what it is. We appreciate everybody who continues to follow along, contribute to the conversation, and support what we’re building here in East Brunswick.
