Facebook is an online, well-known international social media that provides a format for informing the world about individual or group activities; news stories, events and so on. However, some people donít have the desire to be connected to the whole world; yet, they want to be ìin the know.î Another social media, NextDoor.com, focuses on certain geographic areas.Lynne Bliss, coordinator for the Woodmen Hills area for NextDoor.com, said itís a means to connect to neighbors. ìEach neighborhood is confined to a geographical area,î she said. As the lead, Bliss verifies the addresses of people who want to be included to ensure the group remains defined in an area.Neighborhoods local to one another can also connect through the website. For example, if someone wanted to get information to Woodmen Hills, Meridian Ranch and Falcon as a whole, there is a neighborhood-to-neighborhood connection.NextDoor is relatively new in the social media world. Bliss has been involved as the coordinator for nine months, and her goal is to get more people involved. ìOn NextDoor, nothing goes viral,î she said. ìIf people are concerned about privacy and have families and kids, you don’t want the whole world to know about that. It’s hard to find a balance between privacy and letting your world know what’s important. This is something that would answer that question or fill that need.îThe site can be used for a variety of purposes, Bliss said. ìYou post messages, and it can be anything from lost and found, something for sale, garage sale alerts … events that are going on at the recreation centers, organizations,î she said. ìItís a convenient way to spread the word on what is happening and not having other people bother you from outside the town.î Earlier this year, a series of break-ins raised concerns in Woodmen Hills. ìThere was a flurry of messages when we had some break-ins in the neighborhood,î Bliss said. ìWe passed around different tips for keeping us safe from people that are out there.ìOne of the nice things, I think, is that people don’t have to log on to NextDoor to find out what is going on. They get notification emails, and it’s more of an opt-in type thing,î As the coordinator, Bliss said she watches for spam or people excessively promoting their businesses. ìA lead would put a kibosh on that,î she said. Bliss became the coordinator because she was the first to sign up in Woodmen Hills. She is hoping to get more people involved. ìIt’s hard to find a balance between privacy and letting your world know what’s important,î Bliss said. ìThis is something that would answer that question or fill that need.î
