With all the new social networks out there, it’s hard to keep up. Which is why when we first heard about Nextdoor, the social network for your neighborhood, it didn’t seem like it was favored to really make any sort of impact up against Facebook and Twitter. But we were shocked this morning to read in the New York Times that Nextdoor has made a comeback in the news, and that people actually did utilize the Nexdoor network.
CEO of Nextdoor, Nirav Tolia, explained his reasoning behind building a neighborhood-exclusive social network, “[a]s you get older, the community that is most valuable to you is the one in which you live [.] [...] The neighborhood is where you buy a home, where your kids go to school, where you spend the majority of your physical life.” Which is true, and if anyone knows the feeling of not really ever talking to your neighbors, it can be somewhat awkward; with the Nextdoor network you can at least have a good idea of who your neighbors actually are, instead of avoiding them like the plague.
When Nextdoor first came out it was ad-free, but as the company evolves and more organizations like Shasta Ventures and Benchmark Capital start to invest, the website will start to feature paid advertisements.
Ever since this announcement was made public, fellow Nextdoor users have been in somewhat of a backlash over the move, complaining that “it can feel out of place to see advertisements alongside pictures of your vacation or the announcement of your marriage,” and “we should not allow advertising notices,” because who wants more ads, especially considering the homier feel of Nextdoor, compared to the renowned use of Facebook.
Regardless, it’s likely that Tolia’s next move is obvious. Will Nextdoor users abandon the service fully if they start to include advertisements?
(via The New York Times; photo via Cool Mom Tech)
Is there ever a real need to implant anything into your body, aside from medical use? We’re not sure, but this guy Dave Hurban implanted magnets inside of his wrists all by himself, just so he could wear his iPod Nano like a watch, sans the wristband—morphing him into a human iPod dock he’s calling the iDermal. Hurban said he “just thought it would be cool.” Talk about a DIY project.
