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In essence, Facebook and Google have cut the legs out from under them by allowing advertisers to target by location. Facebook uses an algorithm to find people who live in Bayside, Queens, while a local news site or paper uses the genuine connections between neighbors. The paper has helped stitch the community together, Facebook has profited from the stitching that already has taken place.

In a rush of sentiment, I think back to my three-year-old self, taking a nap beside my Chinese grandmother. She would gently scratch my arms until I fell asleep, attending completely and only to my body. Laying in the afternoon warmth, my arms stretched out toward her, like a plant reaching for the sun. My grandmother also made clothes for me (and my body). When I saw her in China last year, I complimented a shirt she was wearing — blue with white flowers. She immediately took it off and insisted that I take it home with me; literally taking the shirt off her back for me.