HOUSTON — In a world of selfies and social media, a handwritten note sure can go a long way. Green Street, a mixed-used development in the heart of downtown Houston, is marrying our love of online posts with one of the oldest professions of love.
“It’s trendy but it also makes you stop and think. It’s just a cute Instagram, basic picture. There’s meaning it. It’s a movement,” said Erica Rocha. She and her friend Alaniz Naranjo, stopped to snap a photo and write a love note in the pink and aqua colored breezeway that connects Main Street and Fannin between Polk and Dallas.
“She’s my valentine this year,” said Rocha of the love note written to her mother. The UH Downtown college students giggled as they recalled the last time they likely wrote a handwritten note- middle school!
Katrina Buerger is responsible for the idea #LoveNotesFromHTX. It’s a month-long social media marketing campaign aimed to increase foot traffic in the Green Street Development while also creating substantive content that can be shared online.
People can anonymously write a love note, stick it in a locked box and check @GreenStreetHOU Instagram page to see if their love note was selected to be shared. Buerger empties the box every Wednesday. As of Feb. 13, 135 love notes have been dropped in the box.
“To a person struggling,” read Buerger of one letter, “you are so loved and special. Never doubt your worth or your fabulousness.”
You have until the end of the month to contribute to the campaign. Come March 1, a new mural will go up in the breezeway. An opportunity for the superficiality of social media to meet the substance of reality.
“I know. Yeah. I mean, you may think you’re just coming out here to get a good backdrop for your photo, but in the end you’re just spreading love across Houston with all of us.”
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