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Nextdoor is close to the worst example I can think of in terms of dark patterns and user experience, and I don't say that lightly. I think it is quite fair to lay that at the feet of the executives.

I would be sympathetic if it were not for their insane level of dark patterns, spam emails and growth hacking schemes. I had to make a blanket ban on @nextdoor.com email addresses because a dying relative was unable to parse their actual emails over nextdoor’s spam.

A UI can promote positive interactions, and a moderation team can mitigate negative ones. Quite tired of hearing implications that social media platforms aren't shaping the way people communicate on them.

I.e. the app can brainwash people into reflecting some specific sensibilities. That's some Orwellian-level stuff there.

The platform shaping communication is a fact, but not a license to use it to program a worldview. The job of a general-purpose platform is to enable communication, but otherwise stay out of the way.

Weak and paranoid take