Nextdoor: The anti-facebook social network for neighborhoods

[mouser]

Nextdoor is a social network designed to stay local within a neighborhood.  I don't think the claims of how many "neighborhoods" are using it mean much, but I do love to see when people explore alternative spaces -- and especially when they take a concept and look for ways to invert it.

Nextdoor is a odd outlier among today’s social networks. Signing up is an onerous process, requiring substantial proof of both your identification and address. People post messages, but they are seen only by others in the immediate area, and there is no share or retweet button to proliferate messages across the network. It feels more like a modern update on a message board or web forum than a social network. But it has struck a chord across the country.

http://www.theverge....-40000-neighborhoods

from http://www.osnews.co...97/The_anti-Facebook

[KynloStephen66515]

Good god...I don't even want to LIVE near my neighbors...letalone socialise with them ......

[4wd]

Good god...I don't even want to LIVE near my neighbors...letalone socialise with them ......

-Stephen66515 (August 20, 2014, 10:28 AM)

I'm with you ... albeit separated by a really large space.

[40hz]

I'd still want to own the server.

Because even though the neighborhoods are walled off from each other by the software, it's still all under one roof.

Hack a small local community server and you compromise one neighborhood. Hack mothership Nextdoor and you've hacked all of them.

 

P.S. 1 in 4 neighborhoods have signed with Nextdoor? Seriously? I'd sure love to see some proof for that boast. (I suspect there's a little finessing going on over exactly what constitutes a signed-up neighborhood - and how many neighborhoods in the USA there actually are.)

PPS - I fully intend to bring back a classic BBS. That's still on my hot project list for this year.

[KynloStephen66515]

Oooooooooooo an original bbs! Do it!

[JavaJones]

I "use" Nextdoor a little. By which I mean I signed up a few months ago and now largely ignore the daily digest contents of posts from my neighbors. I originally signed up to a different but similar service which happened to also include local crime news/reports, which I was interested in at the time (tip: you think you want to know, but you probably don't). But that original one closed down or was bought or something so I switched to Nextdoor, even though it doesn't offer the same info as I originally signed up to the *other* one for. Odd, I know.

I do kind of like the idea of a local social network, and there are consistent reminders in some of the posts of how it can be useful. Connecting with local services and professionals recommended by your neighbors, for example, or selling/gifting/trading things locally. It's more personal than Craig's List but less so than Facebook, I feel. So it definitely has a role to play IMO. But the numbers are probably quite deceptive, "1 in 4 American Neighborhoods". It only takes a few people in each neighborhood to sign up for it to be an "active" neighborhood, and there are a lot fewer neighborhoods than people in the US too. So while it sounds like an impressive level of use, it's nowhere near the level of Facebook and other social media sites in terms of number of users.

- Oshyan

[Deozaan]

40,000 neighborhoods is 1/4th of all neighborhoods in the USA? So there are only 160,000 neighborhoods in the USA?

[Target]

neighborhood isn't a finite description, so I'd be interested to know how they define it

I mean wouldn't you be peeved if you lived on a boundary, and got info about stuff at the other end of the neighbourhood (and people who aren't even your neighbours), but not the stuff next door (in you're neighbourhood).

That said, I suppose it does provide a window into what's going on locally, which could be a good incentive to get involved

[40hz]

For news, where I am we have a nice little local news site called DoingItLocal.com which leverages the power of smartphones and user contributions to gather info on breaking stories in the immediate area. They post before the major news outlets - who now monitor DoingItLocal like they used to monitor police/fire scanners in the days before encryption. It's a good working symbiosis. DiL spots and reports, and the big boys follow up with more in depth coverage than DiL can provide.

Here's something interesting. DiL has brought back the old local "street reporter" image:

Nextdoor: The anti-facebook social network for neighborhoods

What’s with the hat?
Posted on January 16, 2014 Posted in FAQ   
Me   

When I first started covering news stories,  police were rightfully suspicious and wonder who is this guy and why is he recording us?  I also  own a reminiscing website YouRememberThat.com and back in the day reporters would be wearing a fedora style hat and they would have their press pass in the band of their hat.  It was a natural thing for me to do, and unnatural thing  since I don’t really like wearing hats.  But it was an important thing for me to do because not many men wear fedoras these days and it stood out.  It helped identify me with the public officials on who I am.  Years ago I even had an assistant fire chief refuse to talk to me because he had no idea who I was; today he and I are good friends.

The hat made me recognizable to the public officials and the public.  Adding the trench coat was a natural progression.  I joke about it that I go work in costume but it also allows me to do something no other media can do and that is come out from behind the logo.  To be a real person.  People like that.

My audience has grown substantially since the early days and most cops and firefighters now know me.  I learned the other night covering a fire a cop didn’t care who I was, I went to the next block and the cop was happy  to see me again.  It also stands out in my mind when I’m at a shooting and people shout out “It’s DoingItLocal!” or as I’m walking to a fire and people are looking out their windows, recognize me and give me a wave.  All it comes down to is I just want to tell you the story of what is going on in your neighborhood.

Maybe this is one way to get around some of the hyper-paranoia some police officers display when facing cameras and questions? However, it's probably easier here since our local emergency services (and citizens) are well aware it isn't illegal to film the cops. And our cops (to their credit) aren't in the habit of harassing smartphone owners. At least so far.