Comment by mooreds | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mooreds | Hacker News Reader

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I think NextDoor is different than patch because it is almost entirely user generated content (as opposed to having paid editors). Everyblock, as far as I understand it, was really an attempt to automate distribution of data and information provided by local authorities.

The real question, which you touch on, is what do you want to talk to your neighbors about? Crime data is certainly one thing, but local email lists that I'm a part of indicate others:

* can I borrow a tool? * anyone have a recommendation for a service (lawnmower, roof replacer, etc, etc)? * I have free stuff in front of my house. * I have friends who want to move into this neighborhood, anyone looking to sell?

I think that event organization is possible, given enough uptake.

Disclaimer, I used to work for a real estate brokerage that was pursuing a neighborhood model (8z.com) and was a competitor of NextDoor.

"Everyblock, as far as I understand it, was really an attempt to automate distribution of data and information provided by local authorities."

I was an EveryBlock user in Chicago for about a year and it was definitely more that a distribution of stats (although I think they may have started out that way originally). There was a very active social neighborhood based network where people talked about what was currently going on in the neighborhood.

I think their growth model is quite aggressive too.

They have "leads" in every neighborhood and they financially reward leads for bringing in new users.

Um, do you have a citation for that?

i got an offer in the mail that said i'd get paid 25$ per referral to nextdoor.

That's not per neighbor; that's if you can get an entire new neighborhood off the ground, with at least ten founding households:

https://help.nextdoor.com/customer/portal/articles/1287247-h...

None of the leads that I know are financially rewarded, they are just the people that happen to start the neighborhood and are often the most involved in making it take off.

I think what the above poster is referring to is the referral program where if you invite someone to Nextdoor AND that person starts a neighborhood, you get a $25 Amazon giftcard. I've personally invited a few people to Nextdoor, but all of them already had a Nextdoor website for their neighborhoods so I didn't get anything even though I referred them.

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