Nextdoor app
11I got a little card in the mail the other day inviting me to a “private social network” for my neighborhood called Nextdoor. I have 7 days to accept the invite.
I’d never heard of it, so I looked it up today, and it has horrible reviews. Apparently people can use it to be like a super local Craig’s list, look for baby sitters, painter recommendations, etc. Apparently to sign up you have to put in your address and name, and everyone can see that. People complain that thieves use it to get info on the neighborhood, or that people use it to gossip. For example, it says you can use it to broadcast that you found a lost dog. A lady had her dogs escape her yard, and a lot of the neighbors were putting notes that she shouldn’t own dogs, or that the pound should take them. Really mean stuff. Opposite of neighborly.
I rent, so I don’t really want everyone knowing who I am. If they look up my address, they’ll just find my landlord.
Does anyone use this? After reading reviews, I think I’ll steer clear.
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There are several of these. Another one is called “5 miles”.
Haven’t used any of them. Would never put personal info up for strangers to see like that tho.
Nextdoor is what we use in our neighborhood. You can make your address private. Also, only those in your neighborhood would be able to see it even if you choose to leave it “public”. In order to join a neighborhood, you have to be personally invited or approved by someone who lives there. While I can’t vouch for it as a whole, we have not had any problems with using it in our neighborhood and it has been helpful in getting info out quickly when our street was being targeted by someone breaking into cars.
@PurplePawprints I wonder if you’re on my street…
if there are married women that want to fool around on it, I’m in…
@somf69 only if
@somf69 Single women that want to fool around aren’t good enough?
We got that same invite not long after we moved in to our new house. I think we threw it away. My first thought was the seven day window to join was bullshit. No website that wants users is going to limit them like that.
I kind of want to go check it out sometime, but if I see stuff like you mentioned on there it would just make me hate my neighbors.
At my old neighborhood, we used it in a very positive way. Neighborhood events, community ideas, etc etc. Very positive and upbeat.
Where I live now… it’s negative and racist and hateful.
Your experience on the app depends on the type of people you live near.
@Collin1000 I suppose in that sense it does a good job of helping you get to know your neighborhood!
Everything that @PurplePawprints said. Super local Craigslist is nice. Local Law Enforcement uses it for community information. I only use the areas of the site I want. That seven day window to sign up gets the person who invited you some fake internet points, if you use whatever code is on the postcard. In my neighborhood people wave, smile, and already know where I live; I don’t mind sharing that same information with them online. And, as has been said, you don’t Need to share your address with your neighborhood, just verify it to the site. I get a daily email, and visit the local government and classified section once or twice a week.
Not all negative but inanely fretful (“be advised three teenagers walking together”) posts got old fast. Seeya.
The other thing is once you give Next Door your info, that’s it. It’s one of those awesome sites that doesn’t cancel accounts, only inactivates them.
I use it with mixed results. The local police district is on it as well as public works.
Much like any social network type place it’s all typing. If you know you neighbors you can accomplish the same thing by talking to people. I’ve found that a lot of good things come through. Lost pets, neighborhood events, security cameras. But also a lot of fighting, and what I refer to as extra moming and dading. After a car is broken into and someone is looking for camera footage they may get some, but they will also get a lot of well you shouldn’t leave things in your car. And you should park there, or you need to do this or that.
Yes you can hide your address, you can share it with just your neighborhood, or you can share it to the surrounding neighborhoods.
The reason for asking for you address is their was of preventing outside users from stalking and abusing the information posted. If you have good neighbors overall it’s not a bad thing. Of you neighborhood sucks maybe stay clear.
We’ve used it to form neighborhood associations, petitions for stop signs and traffic lights, and to bring attention of law enforcement to raises in crime.
Apparently it depends on your neighborhood (and surrounding neighborhoods if you use that aspect). We use it on our neighborhood and while there is occasionally some flak it gets smacked down pretty quickly by other residents, or last resort the mods if you have decent ones.
It’s been good in my neighborhood, although I haven’t logged back into the app since my phone bricked last summer, so it might’ve gotten awful during the election. I kind of doubt that, though; our neighborhood stays pretty civil. The worst we get are some passive-aggressive comments about whatever people perceive the HOA as not doing, typically from people who can’t be bothered with actually getting involved. In our neighborhood it mostly gets used the same way as our private Facebook group, with a lot of overlap but more posts on Nextdoor. It’s also a good way to be aware of things like changes to trash pickup schedules or nuclear plant siren tests.
As always, technology is an amplifier: if you live in a neighborhood with decent people, this is a pretty useful app (was my experience).
I’ve used it in 3 neighborhoods (moved around a lot). I like it… never saw any nastiness. Also, they seem like good devs who think hard about the right way to handle things: http://fusion.net/story/340171/how-nextdoor-reduced-racial-profiling/
We use Nextdoor in our neighborhood. It’s mostly a place for the busybodies to conspire to attempt to bring on new rules and changes that no one else wants. It also seems to be a dumping ground for grumpy and nosy neighbors that are pissed off that other people have a life.
On the other hand, it did help unite the neighborhood against having our roads repaved last summer. Everyone wanted the county to do it until it was discovered that the neighboring city planned to annex us as soon as it was done. Everyone agreed that the tax increase and expenses of being in the city weren’t worth it.
I don’t have any issues with the program, but I really do get tired of all the lost dog posts, along with the “whose dog is this?” posts
@capguncowboy
@medz that pretty much nailed it on the head. They’re those people.
I’ve never used the app, but I love the daily newsletter. Basically a list of topics of conversation, classified ads, etc. If I see something interesting I link through the mobile site. Lots of great community info. Definitely appreciate the “neighborhood watch” aspect of it. People definitely look out for suspicious people, missing pets, warnings of mail/package theft, etc.
We use it to talk shit on the people living in the townhouse neighborhood North of us. Friggin townhousies… get a real house! I kid, of course. I’ve lived in two different townhouses.
My neighborhood uses it - but we live in a neighborhood that is literally taglined “Hometown USA.” I bought furniture from my across the street neighbor two weeks after moving in, and we hadn’t met her yet. I donated some dog supplies to someone who has a dog rescue locally. I also found local businesses to hire based on references from my neighbors, and found a $25 dining room table a week before Thanksgiving. My town is medium sized, and you can choose to add to the surrounding neighborhoods in your posts, or only your immediate streets. I like it. I don’t use it a lot, so the “crime bulletins” I pretty much ignore. I use it as a swap meet. Other people use it for babysitting or lawn cutting or snow removal - services you might not be able to find someone nearby to do if you didn’t know anyone in the area.
Have you folks ever heard of yikyak?
Not that I’m condoning the use of such a frowned-upon app (my own experiences with it have been alright at best), but it’s anonymous and location-based, ie a good place to say “lost dog, responds to Fido” then get on with your life.
Also, look up Firechat. Bluetooth mesh network; good for remote locations.
I doubt I’d be able to repeat it, but I joined my current neighborhood on Nextdoor without being verified. I requested the postcard, but lost it while unpacking. It only works when I access the site with a browser, the app still gives me a message that I need to verify my address. I’d contact them to let them know, but it seems like a waste of time as I’m no longer sure how I did it.