Nextdoor is a social network that lets you connect with your neighborhood. Just like the Cheers theme song, it’s where everybody knows your name. Literally. In this neighborhood network, you use real names and verified addresses.
Joining Nextdoor
There’s an online space being used by your neighborhood, and setting up an account is the first step to becoming part of it.
If you received an invitation to join a neighborhood, just click through the link in your email.
Or you can join by going to nextdoor.com and entering your email and street address.
Next, you’ll be asked to verify your address. You can do this in one of several ways, including:
- By phone: Nextdoor will call your mobile phone or home phone number and give you a verification code. Your address on Nextdoor is verified by matching what you provide with the address on your phone bill.
- By credit card or debit card: Your address on Nextdoor is verified by matching it to your billing address.
- By postcard: Nextdoor will mail you a postcard with a unique verification code.
Getting Started
After signing in, you’ll have access to your neighborhood’s online community. You’ll be able to read other people’s postings and create posts of your own.
The newsfeed will give you info on recent happenings.
Use the interactive map to see which neighbors are on Nextdoor.
The neighborhood directory will let you see all your neighbors. (It’s also helpful when you’re trying to figure out the name of that person you just can’t remember. It’s okay, it happens to everyone.)
Tip: Check your neighborhood’s “house rules” to identify any localized rules of conduct.
Ways to Use Nextdoor
Get the word out about your backyard BBQ. “Rather than spending hours printing fliers and passing them out in the neighborhood, members can publish an event to all their neighbors (or just a select few) with just one click,” says Nextdoor’s head of communications, Kelsey Grady. “Neighbors can then RSVP and leave comments on the post.”
Using Nextdoor saves you from having to put notes in mailboxes or send out smoke signals from your charcoal grill.
“Recommendations [are] the most common way neighbors use Nextdoor,” says Grady. “As you can imagine, people trust a recommendation from someone within their community more than one from a complete stranger.”
Use Nextdoor to ask for a recommendation for a professional landscaping company or to connect with parents who are hoping their teenager will get a summer job mowing lawns.
“Buying from a neighbor feels much safer than buying from a complete stranger,” says Grady.
Use Nextdoor to sell the “classic” car in your garage that you haven’t had time to get running. And luckily, selling it to a neighbor means it won’t be going far away, which is helpful because it hasn’t been on the road in over a decade.
Just like they tell you at the airport, if you see something, say something. Nextdoor helps with neighborhood safety so you can alert each other about suspicious activity. Grady says that many neighborhoods use it as a “virtual neighborhood watch,” adding that “you can’t put a police officer on every corner but you can find a concerned neighbor.”
You can also use Urgent Alerts to notify the neighborhood of imminent threats. In cases of natural disasters, missing children or unfolding crimes in the neighborhood, Grady says, “With just one post, neighbors can alert their immediate neighborhood and nearby neighborhoods via email and text message.”
Or if something strange, amazing or noteworthy happens in your neighborhood, share that photo — like if you see kangaroos in the backyard of your suburban Cincinnati home.
A Good Neighborhood Makes for Happy Homes
67% of homeowners feel safer at home because they know their neighbors.
“Nextdoor is a great way to discover all the happenings in your neighborhood. Whether it’s reaching a fundraising goal for a neighbor in need, finding out about a neighborhood block party or sharing footage of a bear and her cubs in your backyard, there are so many moments to enjoy with your neighbors on Nextdoor,” says Grady.
As our dear friend, Mr. Rogers, would say: Won’t you be my neighbor?
Source: Nextdoor.com