Facebook, the company which continuously integrates new features and expands its functionalities, will now get the next-door app clone neighborhood feature. This Facebook neighborhood feature similar to next door allows you to communicate with your neighbors. Also, it keeps you updated with what’s happening in your neighborhood, and you can even start discussions addressing important issues within your community.
Along with this, you can join local communicates and get recommendations from them. You can even arrange local events around your specific interests. Or you can mingle with your neighbors who have similar interests or hobbies like you. Simply Facebook Neighbourhood feature allows you to foster relationships with neighbors without knocking on their doors.
Based on reports Facebook has nearly 2.7 billion users globally, and with the current crisis, many users are using social media to connect with neighbors and local services. As everyone’s lives at stake, connecting with others has become very crucial for people. The Facebook neighborhood makes it easy and brings all your local experiences across Facebook into one place.
Last year several reports claimed that Facebook was working on a new Nextdoor clone Neighbourhood feature. And today Facebook officially announced in its blog post that it will be rolling out this new Neighbourhood feature across selected US cities and Canada. If Facebook users want to use this feature they have to be at least 18 years old.
Here are the details of the Facebook Neighborhood feature
To get started with this Facebook Neighborhood feature you just need to click on the neighborhoods section of the app. You can choose your neighborhood profile separately which will be different from your Facebook profile. To join, users have to be 18 years or older and should confirm their neighborhood. For this, you can choose to join just your own neighborhood. Otherwise, you have an option to join your nearby neighborhoods to see neighbors and posts regarding your local area.
This neighborhood profile consists of your name, profile, and cover photo from your Facebook profile along with your neighborhood name. You also get an option to add your bio, it is optional. Whenever you join any neighborhood, those neighbors can see your posts and neighborhood profile including your neighborhood name.
In addition to this, the Facebook neighborhood feature lets you create a group in neighborhoods. Which can be private or open and visible or hidden. If you make it private, then only group members who have joined the neighborhood will be able to see posts. In case if you choose an open option, then anyone in the neighborhood or nearby neighborhoods can see who’s in the group. Also, they can see what they post. If you make it visible then anyone in the neighborhood can search and find this group. Whereas if you choose the hidden option then, your group will be visible to members only.
However, Facebook also informs that the neighborhood feature is an opt-in experience. So it’s upto you to decide whether you want to join neighborhoods and create a profile. Also, make sure you follow all the guidelines facebook neighborhood feature outlines.
Facebook Neighborhood feature may also cause some issues
When you bring people together there will be both good and bad. And a bad thing can be disagreements between group members and heavy arguments. These types of arguments are very common among several social media platforms. Previously we have seen a similar crisis like fractious political arguments and outright racism. So there is a chance that the new Neighborhood feature may also get affected by these disagreements among members.
In addition to this, Facebook has a very bad reputation when it comes to group arguments and users hang out. Previously Facebook groups have played a very crucial role in nurturing some high stake situations which made it much worse. Some of those situations are white supremacy and recent anti-vaccine misinformation. We have to wait and how Facebook will handle situations like this and how it will prevent them. What necessary steps Facebook will take to make this new neighborhood feature more peaceful and more easy-going.
Facebook has set some moderation and safety guidelines
Facebook informed in its blog post, that it built this neighborhood feature to be safe and inclusive. Neighborhood guidelines will make interactions among neighbors more relevant and kind towards one other. To ensure a smooth hassle process, the neighborhood feature has moderators who will use these guidelines to review posts and comments in the neighborhood’s feed.
If someone posts or comments something which is against the neighborhood guidelines, moderators can take action by hiding the post. Then it will be reviewed by Facebook community operations. If they also find it to be violating Facebook Community Standards then it will be removed from the Neighborhoods feed. To make it better organized you can also report a post or comment to a neighborhood moderator. In case you think that someone’s post or comment doesn’t follow the guidelines or Facebook community standards.
Facebook Neighborhood feature also allows you to block someone on Facebook or in neighborhoods. And the other person will not get notified. In addition to this, when you block someone and they logged into Facebook, they won’t be able to find you in the Neighborhoods directory. As of now, this Facebook neighborhood feature is available for Canada and selected cities in the US.
Conclusion
Similar to the Nextdoor app Facebook made a similar feature to connect with your neighborhoods. Facebook Neighborhood features can help you connect with neighborhood groups and lets you arrange events to discuss important things and also lets you connect with neighbors who share your interests or hobbies. Initially, this feature will be rolled out for Canada and some selected cities in the US. Facebook has officially informed this in its recent blog post.
