zlacker

>>pseudo+(OP)
I live in an immediate suburb of Boston, and joined Nextdoor and joined to see what features were attracting so many folks to a new social media platform. Wow! Anyone with a tattoo, going to your door for any reason was considered "suspicious" and reported. One alarming thing, is that NextDoor is feeding on our fears about outsiders who look different, and creating a loop out of this for higher engagement when people post pictures and engage their camera feed.

It's too bad, I think idea of organizing a social network based on proximity and centered around community information is a viable idea, It's just that NextDoor is doing that with our worst instincts.

>>wespis+8g
I live in Gilroy, a small town in the bay area. I joined Nextdoor for all of two weeks before I quit in annoyance and frustration.

A typical post:

"OMG Who Is This Suspicious Person!!!"

:: watches video, sees rather bored looking person, driving a UPS truck, wearing a UPS uniform, dropping off a package, then leaving ::

This was 90%+ of what the posts were like. The rest were 'political' screeds so disjointed they were essentially logorrhea. Something about how Nextdoor has shaped their posting methodologies has made even Facebook posts look sane in comparison, and that's saying something.

The added frustration is that real neighborhood watch needs exist. We had some professional thieves roll through our cul-de-sac a few days ago- dozens of people had their cars broken in to, and whatever was in easy reach stolen. The Ring Neighborhood system allowed those of us affected to find who had video of what, and forward it all to the police. That's a real benefit. But it has its own issues.

Social media is a hard problem.