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Help might be Nextdoor!

Lost dog or cat? Something to sell? Need a recommendation for a carpenter or dog-walker? Want your neighbors to know about a meeting or event? These are just a few of the topics that are being shared on NextDoor, a free and private social network for neighborhoods. Many Cedar Mill area residents have already discovered it, and there’s room for everyone with a computer or smartphone, and an email address.

You join a group based on your neighborhood, and when you’re ready to post something, you can choose whether to share the information with just your neighborhood, or with a number of adjacent neighborhoods. You can also choose whether to get a “daily digest” of posts, or to receive them as they come in.

From their website: “Nextdoor’s mission is to use the power of technology to build stronger and safer neighborhoods. The inspiration behind Nextdoor was to give people a social network to connect them to one of the most important communities in their lives—the neighborhood. Nextdoor believes that when neighbors start talking, good things happen.” They are supported by a large number of investors, listed on their website.

All members must verify that they live within the neighborhood before they can join. Information shared on Nextdoor is password-protected and cannot be accessed by those outside the neighborhood, or found on Google or other search engines. And Nextdoor never shares personal information with any third parties.

Among our nearby “neighborhoods” are Forest Park, The Bluffs, Bonny Slope, Cedar Mill, Findley School, and Terra Linda. People who don’t live in an existing neighborhood can set one up, and any member can invite their neighbors to join.

The interface is very friendly. It’s obvious that the company has put a lot of work into making it easy for people to use, no matter what their level of technical expertise.

Some people will never trust anything online to be safe and private. But Nextdoor seems to have covered all the regular bases, they state: Every neighbor has to verify their address; Every neighbor signs in with their real name; Your website is protected by password and encrypted by HTTPS; We never share your info with advertisers.

If you find that your address isn’t included in a NextDoor neighborhood , you can start one!  Neighborhoods are established by the first member of the website, the Founding Member. The Founding Member has the ability to define the neighborhood boundary and choose the neighborhood name.

Visit NexDoor.com and find out what you’ve been missing!

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