Now that it's started...

[ray1970]

Oh, I wouldn?t be too concerned with those kind of people.

[TheGrey]

Like everything else social media, there are plenty of criticisms of Nextdoor. It's basically Facebook, but for concentric circles around your immediate neighborhood. The negatives generally don't outweigh the positives, and there ARE positives that just can't be recreated in other ways. I'll give you some examples from my experience before I got kicked off.

The amount of stuff people are selling, and that you can sell to are great. A common thing I saw was people getting rid of dirt, fallen trees, and extra garden plants or chicken eggs. Sure, you could browse on Craigslist for that stuff, but you're in a much smaller market and things happen quicker and with more trust within your own neighborhood. I was able to sell a bunch of stuff that wouldn't have been worth the hassle on Craigslist, and might not have moved at a garage sale.

There are a ton of dumb posts about people seeing hawks, raccoons, and coyotes, and so many lost dog threads that you'll wonder if magic gnomes stole every fence and door latch in the neighborhood all at once. However, my parents neighborhood backs up to an open space, and mountain lion sightings can be posted up NOW, instead of some blurry picture in the monthly news letter 17 days later.

I often refer my neighbors who are in need of a contractor to turn to Nextdoor and ask their neighbors. If a big hail storm rolled through, their neighbors WILL have had their roofs replaced and can give first hand reports of good or bad companies, and heck, you can even drive by to check out the work yourself. Also, with people remodeling or repairing or whatever, there is always someone who needs a contractor.

People post up about businesses that they run that you might not otherwise know about. Events that are happening, etc. It's just an enhanced version of being involved in your neighborhood, and you get to control how much or little your participate. You can browse through and pick up information about stuff, and never post anything and you never run the risk of a negative interaction with your neighbors. There are abuses, and annoyances, but most stuff can be filtered or adjusted so it's not a constant bother. I think besides all the free or useful stuff, I liked how they'd do maps of who was passing out candy during Halloween for the kids. I think more kids at houses that wanted them, and less at houses that didn't. Either way, it is useful, but only if you choose to use it. Just as a heads up though, to sign up and verify you are actually you, you can either provide your social, or elect to have a post card mailed to your house. The post card has a code that you can use to be granted that first time access.

I've actually been thinking about going back, but I have to be careful because I get roped into arguments too easily and I'd rather not have that.

THANK you. You described the benefits and drawbacks of the Nextdoor App very well. It also provides a map for Christmas lights (much like the Halloween Candy map), and local garage sales.

It seems to work for some people. Others, not so much. But in this particular time, I've found it to be very valuable.

[TheGrey]

In my neighborhood the next door app has alerted me via people’s posts to police activity, fires, criminal activity, etc. numerous times. I have to sift through all the political rants and the “your dog pooped in my yard again” posts but in the end I think it does serve well as a first alert aid in case of mobs/riots mass theft and looting situations.

Very true! When people want to know about what all the police activity was about, there is always at least one person who not only knows the details, but is happy to provide details.

[Gman]

I tried Nextdoor for a week, and the signal to noise ratio was pretty much non-existent over here. Way too many SJWs, and mangy coyote and lost cat traffic.

The Ring Neighborhood app is just about as useless, probably because of the users being the same body of people.

[Great-Kazoo]

Yes, well aware of charcoal?s uses. My concern is some moron trying to purify water with what is essentially lighter fluid and grilling charcoal.

well they could always wash it down with some fish tank cleaner.

[00tec]

well they could always wash it down with some fish tank cleaner.

Hey, at least it prevented the Covid for that dude

[Gman]

Hey, at least it prevented the Covid for that dude

...and needlessly tied up emergency and hospital resources.

[TheGrey]

I tried Nextdoor for a week, and the signal to noise ratio was pretty much non-existent over here. Way too many SJWs, and mangy coyote and lost cat traffic.

The Ring Neighborhood app is just about as useless, probably because of the users being the same body of people.

I know what you mean- but you learn quickly who the SJWs are. And now that there's something to focus their attention on besides coyotes (HOARDERS!!!!!!11111!!!) there's a lot of squawking. But there are also threads of people that need help, treads of people volunteering to help, and bits of information from various occupations. Sure, there's racket. But if you can sift and sort out the BS, there are good things you can find- local contractors, stuff for sale, and so on. Even barter.

[iego]

When I checked the mail today, at our community mailbox, someone had left a goody bag on top of the mailbox. "Take what you need" it said.

Pretty darn special, no app required.

-John

[CS1983]

We know several large families (think 10 kids); they're usually pretty well stocked, but what we have done is put out the word that if any item is running low due to store limits, just let us know and if we can get extra, we will pass those along since the limits are frankly arbitrary in relation to need.

So for example if they are low on milk, and we are at a store that has a 2 milk limit, and we either don't need it, or only need 1, we would get 2 and shift the excess to them.