Nextdoor use surges during coronavirus pandemic — for good reasons and bad
More people are turning to the Nextdoor app during the coronavirus pandemic — and some are using it to shame their neighbors, news outlets report.
To help protect against COVID-19, health officials encourage people to keep their distance from others. Local and state governments have ordered people who are doing non-essential activities to stay home.
Meanwhile, Nextdoor had an 80% increase in users in recent weeks, the company said Tuesday in an email to McClatchy News.
How are people using the app?
Nextdoor connects people who live near each other.
As coronavirus spreads, people have checked on older neighbors and offered to buy groceries for those stuck at home, according to the company.
One person turned to the app to invite neighbors to participate in a “drive-up birthday” celebration, according to a post on a Twitter page called bestofnextdoor.
Another user started “Take a Roll, Leave a Roll,” a front porch-based toilet paper exchange organized as panic shopping left some store shelves empty, the Twitter page said.
“To me, it’s super uplifting,” Jenn Takahashi, who runs the social media account, told BuzzFeed News. “And to see that domino effect of other people being inspired by these posts and doing it for their own communities is just the best thing ever.”
But not every post is so kind.
“My neighborhood Nextdoor board used to be just people complaining about dog s***,” writer Mat Johnson wrote on Twitter. “Now it’s people sharing vital information, and offering to volunteer to help vulnerable residents, and also still complaining about dog s***.”
And other coronavirus-related comments have emerged.
In Texas, a person on daily walks to get respite during the pandemic complained that too many people kept their curtains open, according to Takahashi’s page.
“People are social-distance shaming anyone they see, such as joggers outside their windows or kids on the street who aren’t staying far enough from each other,” The Washington Post reported.
Neighbors are also using the app to spread unverified information and conspiracies in their communities, according to The New York Times.
To help stop the spread of misinformation, Nextdoor announced it would show information from health experts when people post about COVID-19. Users can also report fake coronavirus posts directly on the app, the company says.
This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Nextdoor use surges during coronavirus pandemic — for good reasons and bad."
