Our family recently signed up for a couple of the neighborhood news alert apps (like Patch and Nextdoor) and we were really shocked to see some of the engagement on there. There are so many of our community there! They are sharing experiences they’ve had at a local restaurant, sharing details of their kids’ teacher showing kindness and neighbors helping each other.
As the Grateful Dead said, “With every silver lining, there’s a touch of gray”… There are folks on these apps that are clearly only there to cause chaos with their words. Here’s what I love seeing about this community, there are people speaking up and standing tall to make sure this isn’t the overarching theme of the apps.
I saw a neighbor ask for part-time work while they’re going through school, and one of the comments mention the way the neighbor looked may not get her any jobs. Almost immediately there were folks standing up for her, encouraging her, and mentioning that they’d love some assistance.
There was also a neighbor who asked for help with moving and moving boxes. The response was amazing! Folks were offering to help on moving day, sharing where to pick up free boxes and even rental services for box rentals.
I avoided these apps for a very long time, because I thought that it would be similar to social media but just on a neighborhood level. I’ve come to find out that it’s not like that at all. Yes, there are those folks there that want to spew bad out into the world, but at the end of the day, most folks are just there to be neighborly and help each other out.
When you see a neighbor in need, reach out to them, after all, it is the neighborly thing to do!
