Social networking is nothing new, and while its premise was to bring people together, there’s no doubt that social networking has created a plethora of problems as well. Despite this, millions of people flock to social media sites every day to get their social “fix”. So much so, that our ability to socialize in person has diminished significantly. Many people find themselves missing that old “neighborly” environment, where it wasn’t odd for people to talk to and look out for each other. Queue NextDoor; a social media application that brings back that neighborly touch, in a modern way.

Where many social media applications fail, NextDoor has risen. Online bullies or “keyboard warriors”, as they are sometimes referred to as, hide behind fake profiles on sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.Infiltrating “local” groups and instigating, bullying, and sometimes creating chaos, hidden behind a fake profile, these people face little to no repercussions for their actions online. Even with rules like “don’t post something you wouldn’t say to someone’s face” pinned in Facebook groups, this has become a problem. While NextDoor cannot protect users from jerks, it does require a real name, and proof of residency before allowing users into their“neighborhood” group. This eliminates the potential for people to create fake profiles, so you know your interactions are with real people, and even more specifically, real people in your neighborhood. Adding an extra layer to this, the behavior is inherently tamer when interactions are between people within walking distance to your home, as the risk of running into the people on NextDoor in the real world is relatively likely.

Without the rest of the world’s information, advertisements,opinions, and posts clogging up your NextDoor “neighborhood” feed, neighbors have a chance to interact closer to home. From contractor recommendations to suspicious activity to lost pets and neighborhood events, NextDoor has become generously popular in the last eight years, finding more and more people joining the app to communicate with their neighbors in a safer, less cluttered online environment.

That’s not to say NextDoor is perfect, nothing is, but with these safeguards in place, it has become a more “real” way to interact with neighbors and one that hundreds of thousands of people log into regularly. If you’re searching for a way to connect with your neighborhood, NextDoor might be your best bet.

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