Whether you are worried about the safety of your kids' playing down the street, about a break-in in your apartment while you are away for a weekend, or just about security in the neighborhood where you live...relax, Nextdoor is watching out for you.
This is the first time I see something like that. Nextdoor is the unique private social network for neighborhoods. On Nextdoor you are able to be part of a private website with your neighbors, get to know other people living around you, ask questions, exchange knowledge and advice, make recommendations. You can join the social platform straight away from Nextdoor home page.
The project is not new at all. It was born 15 months ago (2010), in San Francisco, California. Nextdoor had a massive response from people across the country. Roughly 8,075 neighborhoods, in all 50 states in the U.S., are today active users of the private network.
The platform is now at the 2.0 version. This was announced on the 11th of February on Nextdoor blog. To be more specific, the 2.0 version includes:
- An enhanced crime and safety section within your Nextdoor website.
- Ability to reach out to nearby neighbors.
- New design for the platform, ergo increasing end-user experience.
Is Nextdoor going to be the next big thing? I am sure it will be! How clever is that!? Even when you are at home by yourself, you are kind of safe. There is a whole neighborhood watching your back. I love social networks!
With Nextdoor you can:
- Fastly get the word out in case of a break in.
- Put together a watch group to monitor your neighborhood.
- Locate a reliable baby sitter for your kids.
- Find who the best painter, builder or plumber is in the area.
- Seek help to keep an eye in the area when you dog/cat gets lost.
- Get an extra chance to know the people who live around you.
- Answer to questions from neighbors, or friends living nearby.
- Inform neighbors and friends about traffic conditions around the neighborhood.
- Post about coming events in the area.
- Recommend valuable products and services around the neighborhood.
- Sell or donate stuff you no longer need, such as second-hand items.
- Plus much more.
There are 39 well-brains-equipped people behind the project, with the mission of building stronger neighbors and communities. The one below is an image of this fantastic group of folks behind Nextdoor.
Is Nextdoor Private Enough?
Well, you may think Nextdoor is the perfect place for stalkers. Unfortunately, some people are like that too.
However, Nextdoor is very concerned with online privacy and safety. They put together a system to make sure online privacy is as strong as possible. When you sign up for an account:
- As a neighbor, you have to verify your address.
- You have to sign up, and sign in, with your real name.
- You can choose who to share info with: very close neighbors only, or perhaps neighbors in the surrounding area as well.
- Your website is always secured by a password and encrypted by HTTPS.
- You can even choose where info about youself is shared.
- Nextdoor never shares information with online marketers, and your Nextdoor profile never shows up after a search on Google.
To know more about privacy and other topics, read Nextdoor’s FAQ section.
What’s Bad About Nextdoor?
Nothing is bad about Nextdoor whatsoever! I love the concept and must admit: I regret it is available in the U.S. only. I really hope they’ll have time as well as resources to expand in the rest of the world. I live in Italy at the moment, and nothing like that exists at all. Not even something similar.
Moreover, if you follow me - and Writeca.com - since a while, you probably know I lived in Melbourne, Australia; and also there, nothing similar exist yet.
The service Nextdoor provides is useful, private, secure and proven. I say proven because if there are more than 8,000 users currently using the social network; Nextdoor is probably working very well indeed.
Are you a user already? Are you considering opening an account for yourself? What are your thoughts about this original new way of interacting with people around you? If you had a past experience, even if not satisfactory, please leave your comments below and start the conversation at Writeca.com.
Enjoyed the article? Share it or leave a comment.
You can also receive our articles directly via 
Related Posts:
- 2 Very Cool Explanations to Social Networking
- Social Media End News Control
- Web 2.0 or Web 3.0, That’s the Question!
- FollowScout: A Revolutionary Way to Spy Your Competitors?
- A Random Flick From Firefox Flicks Contest?