LOS ANGELES—In a post to the app that garnered dozens of likes, local NextDoor user Janine Parry reportedly came right out and asked this week if it was okay to set a homeless man on fire. “Hey all, I’ve seen this guy around the neighborhood a few times, and I was wondering if anyone would mind if I doused him in…
I’m the founder of my neighborhood on ND and I refuse to even download the app today for this exact reason. It started as a great way to ask about missing pets and let people know the pickup was happening, and it became an absolute cesspool.
What ND taught me most was that people loathe and despise the homeless, they are apparently not even human beings. I assume this is because we all know deep down that we’re a missed paycheck or two away from it ourselves.
Turns out it was also a great way to discover how many of my neighbors are complete assholes.
Not as many as you would think based on the app.
NextDoor is a bad representation of every neighborhood, because the vast majority of people who live anywhere don’t give enough of a shit about their neighborhood to waste their valuable time on a social media platform solely focused on it.
You’ll get some decent people, those trying it out, those new to the neighborhood, the people looking for their lost pets, the occasional annoying guy who really, really, really needs people to know about his mulching business. They’re all fine.
But the people you will find on there most often are the busy bodies, the HOA assholes, the NIMBYs, and most of all: the retired homeowners (boomers) whose world has become so small and insular that the goings-on of the neighborhood is a primary interest to them. NextDoor is a perfect companion to the binoculars Edith keeps on the end table by the front windows in the living room. The ones she uses to watch what those kids over at the Johnston place are up to in the garage, just in case she needs to “call someone”.
For me it was a lot of little things that reminded me too much of Facebook. Hysterical political posts, childish name calling, and otherwise normal people becoming raving lunatics because someone’s dog was barking too much two blocks away. When I finally left there were a lot of people shame posting pictures and addresses of where people live because they didn’t like the sign they had in the yard, or thought the grass was too long. Just overall a really toxic place.
I can tell you from experience that the moderation queue there is exactly as bad as you would think, too.
Edit: the number of “keep” votes on outright hate speech, it baffles the mind.
Oh, I’m aware! I was one of the people they would ask if a post should be taken down or not. Most of the time it would be something truly vile that I would vote to remove and 8 other people would claim was just fine 😭
I think you’re right. Even if it’s related to addiction or some other thing, “there but for the grace of god go I” (not that I’m religious, but I like that expression)
You saw what happened in South Park with the homeless? It’s a scary ordeal. /s