NextDoor is Not a Magical Neighboring Solution

 

When it comes to forming good neighbor relationships, the Nextdoor App promises a magical solution. But the truth is, it should be just one of several tools in your neighboring toolbox.

Nothing beats face-to-face communication or front-yard interaction. If you can use the NextDoor app to create face-to-face interaction that helps grow a relationship, that is a good thing. Using it in place of relationship development is a bad thing.

Social media works best when it extends other ways of connecting rather than replacing them.

For starters, we can get enchanted with social media and technology, and that enchantment can easily lure us away from those "old-fashioned" ways of connecting that require two bodies in the same place. We would be better served with less online and more in-person living.

Technology has also caused us to change our meaning of what is a "good neighbor." Most Americans now say it is someone who "is quiet and leaves me alone." That is a dangerous trend for our communities and our own social well-being.

Plenty of research shows that social media makes some people feel lonelier and more isolated because they compare themselves to everyone else's life highlights.

Social media also often leads to negativity. People working to improve a neighborhood using an asset-based community development approach know it is best to focus on the assets and gifts of your neighbors, not negative concerns.

We, humans, are also only able to manage about 150 meaningful relationships. This is called the Dunbar number if you want to research it. This means social media is not the answer, it is a tool.

I often say, if anyone is talking about neighboring, we all benefit. So Nextdoor does promote the idea of neighboring. As a company, they recognize good neighbors nationwide and have promoted good neighbor day, all good things.

When I have organized neighborhood events, I share it on NextDoor, on our neighborhood Facebook page, talk to my neighbors about it, text my neighbors about it, and hand out fliers. That way no one is left out.

My recommendation is that you turn off the TV and go outside. Sit under a tree in the front yard with cooler and empty lawn chairs, and invite your neighbors to visit. Get to know each other on a first-name basis. Plan and do things together. Take steps to develop positive neighbor relationships for the health of your neighborhood, your community, and your mental well-being.

Do not be a "good" quiet neighbor. Become an engaged neighbor who knows the names of their neighbors and cares for them. No app can do that for us.

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Does this article make you interested in taking the Engaged Neighbor pledge? Five categories and 20 principles to guide you toward becoming an engaged neighbor. Sign the pledge online at http://engagedneighbor.com.

Contact the blog author, David L. Burton at dburton541@yahoo.com.

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