When the City of Little Rock threw in with NextDoor two weeks ago there were already nearly 14,000 signed up. Since then, another 800 or so users have come aboard.NextDoor is a private social network not unlike Facebook that allows users to follow both neighbors and news within their particular neighborhoods. Jennifer Godwin is the city’s communications manager and the point person for the outreach.
“When you sign up, you’re connected with your neighborhood, and you get notifications about, you know, there’s a lost dog or a garage sale, or neighborhood watch notifications.”
With the addition of the City of Little Rock, residents can get city alerts tailored to their neighborhoods. The City, however, cannot monitor neighbors' conversations.
“We can’t see what residents are sharing within their neighborhoods, so there’s no Big Brother aspect to this. This is essentially for us to be able to start a conversation, share information about any meetings we may have coming up, the National Night Out events — police will be able to reach out with emergency notifications.”
The network is free and promises not to sell users’ information to advertisers, Godwin said.
Most of the 15 National Night Out events are taking place between 5 and 7 p.m. tomorrow night, in locations such as the Central High School Visitor’s Center and the Woodruff Community Garden. For a full list, clear here.
Copyright 2016 KUAR
