Being a military family, we know how hard it is starting over in a new place. We leave friends and neighbors behind, just to start all over again. In today’s society you really don’t have a welcoming committee welcoming you to the neighborhood anymore. I am not sure if it is due to busy lives or what has happened in that aspect.
When we moved to Harker Heights in 2013, I soon got a post card in the mail from one of my neighbors (supposedly) welcoming me to my neighborhood and asking me to join this website called Nextdoor. I thought it was some kind of scam, so I threw it away.
About a month later I received another postcard exactly like the first. It mentioned a private online network just for my community. My thought was, sure it’s private and I am sure there is a catch to it.
The postcard sat on my desk for several weeks until one day I decided to see what this Nextdoor was all about.
Imagine my surprise when I realized that it was a completely free, private social networking site just for my subdivision! Members are screened by receiving codes which are sent to their address that they must enter in order to verify that they actually live at that address and belong to that community.
How to Join
Current members can invite neighbors via postcards (which will have a verification code) that are sent from Nextdoor or through email.
Once you have been verified, you can post questions to other neighbors, plan block parties, introduce yourself, or even sell items in their classifieds section. You can also choose whether to see your immediate surrounding neighborhoods and neighbors. Or you can keep it strictly to your neighborhood.
There are no friend’s lists or anything like that. Whatever info you put on your profile is viewable to your neighbors. Again these neighbors are verified, so no need to worry about the random person stumbling upon it. In fact you can’t even view any neighborhoods or pages until you have been verified.
Who knew the internet could help you meet your neighbors? While you’re at it, get out and meet them in real life too!
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