Type of site Social networking | Website www.nextdoor.com | |
Slogan(s) The private social network for your neighborhood. Launched October 11, 2011; 5 years ago (2011-10-11) | ||
Nextdoor is a social networking service for neighborhoods. It was launched in the United States in October 2011; in February 2016 the service became available in The Netherlands. Nextdoor allows users to connect with people who live in their own and nearby neighborhoods.
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Nextdoor competes with other social networks such as Yelp, Yahoo! Groups, Facebook and Google. It claims to be better than Facebook as membership is by invitation only, so "you don’t have to deal with strangers trying to add you as a friend". An article in The Washington Post said when Nextdoor launched that it "seems poised to ride the wave of people’s desire to connect back to their community".
History
Nextdoor was co-founded by Nirav Tolia, who based the company in San Francisco, California. Tolia had previously helped start Epinions. Early investors include Benchmark Capital, Shasta Ventures, and Rich Barton. As of February 2014 Nextdoor had 80 to 100 employees. In July 2012 Nextdoor raised US$18.6M in venture capital funding. Dan Clancy (formerly of Google) joined Nextdoor in February 2014.
In June 2014 Nirav Tolia pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor, after being charged with felony hit-and-run, and was sentenced to 30 days in county jail and a fine of $239 for fleeing a crash that left a woman injured on U.S. Route 101 in Brisbane, California. "It's ironic that the CEO of a company that is holding itself out as trying to promote neighborliness, crime watch and things like that flees the scene of an accident that he caused and doesn't bother to call 911 or stay around to exchange information or see if he caused any injuries," said the woman's attorney, Joseph Brent. Tolia said, "I am relieved that after further examination of the facts, the DA reduced the charge to a misdemeanor and that Thursday's hearing brought the matter to a close."
The company, funded by venture capital, did not initially expect to make money, but planned eventually to run advertising and connect people to deals with local businesses, and be "a nice substitution of Craigslist". Recommendations of area resources are also provided, thus making it a competitor with TaskRabbit, another local services provider. Chenda Ngak of CBS News has compared Nextdoor to a "College Bulletin Board".
As of March 2015, Nextdoor had not earned a profit.
In February 2017, Nextdoor acquired the UK local social network service Streetlife, in a "multimillion pound deal". However Nextdoor's different privacy policy has provoked fierce anger amongst former Streetlife users.
Functions
Before registering an account, prospective users must provide their real name and verify their home address. Verification methods include providing a credit card or confirming a code mailed or phoned to the prospective user. Nextdoor provides registered users with a list of neighbors who have also registered. Nextdoor allows users to see which nearby residents are registered on the site, and to send postcards advertising the site to non-registered neighbors.
Nextdoor displays members' names and information. Nick Wingfield of The New York Times worried that the site may "be used to publicly shame" neighbors or lead to "snarky messages" between residents. Nextdoor leadership said that the use of real names helps maintain civil behavior among users.
Author Pendarvis Harashaw accused Nextdoor's members of engaging in racial profiling: "While Nextdoor's ability to assist in crime-spotting has been celebrated as its 'killer feature' by tech pundits, the app is also facilitating some of the same racial profiling we see playing out in cities across the country. Rather than bridging gaps between neighbors, Nextdoor can become a forum for paranoid racialism—the equivalent of the nosy Neighborhood Watch appointee in a gated community." Sam Levin of the East Bay Express did a detailed story on the harm caused by racial profiling and problems with moderators on Nextdoor in Oakland, California. Nextdoor has guidelines against postings that are discriminatory or engage in profiling, saying, "it's inappropriate to report suspicious activity in a way that focuses primarily on the appearance of those involved rather than their actions."