Are Neighborly Apps the a new way to chat across the fence?

There are a handful of apps that have appeared in the last five years that were solely created to reconnect neighbors who have been distant because of technology.  These are the neighborly apps.  Their names range from EveryBlock to Home Elephant and their focus is to connect neighbors.  They do this by having specific groups on the app for each neighborhood: you can only be part of your neighborhood’s group.  It begins when a trend setter in the neighborhood joins the app and then everyone else follows suit.  Because of technology, the internet, and the quickening speed of life, neighbors rarely know each other anymore.  While there have been multiple attempts to create websites and apps that reconnect neighbors, few have done well except for the handful that have become big hits in different neighborhoods across the world.

While there are multiple apps like this, one specific app is doing well to encourage community.  It’s called Neighborly.  It was started in New Zealand and has been tested in some of the suburbs around Auckland.  It is now making its way to Australia where it will be tested in North Adelaide.  The founders hope that their neighborly app can help reverse the trend of people ignoring their neighbors.  They hope to get people talking again.  The founders want their app to be a place where police can post if there is a problem in the neighborhood, the city can inform residents about construction, neighbors can talk and swap ideas, and local business can promote themselves to the local community. 

Nextdoor is another such app.  The founders of this app believe that the reason we are no longer connected to our neighbors is because most homes are dual-working households and no one is home to meet the neighbors.  No matter what they believe, their goal is similar to Neighborly: to bring back community to our communities.  Nextdoor does this by allowing neighbors to chat online, providing a way for neighbors to notify one another if there is any questionable business around their house, and making it easy for neighbors to plan fun events for the whole neighborhood.

The reports on these apps have shown that users have used these apps for the whole gambit of possibilities from notifying neighbors of sketchy characters lingering around homes to throwing block parties.  These neighborly apps seems to be helpfully making communities smaller again.

Do you think you would you download one if people in your neighborhood started to?

Read more if you want to learn more about these apps: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/new-social-media-platform-aimed-at-reconnecting-neighbours-to-be-trialled-in-north-adelaide/story-fnii5yv7-1226872496406

http://www.reviewjournal.com/view/neighborly-app-helps-keep-communities-connected