Nextdoor wins my prize for the scummiest human manipulation to increase user signups I've witnessed.
I live in the UK in a cul-de-sac with about 25 houses in the street. We've lived here about 4 years and have a dog so we have bumped in to all the neighbours and know all of them by name at least.
I get a note through my door from NextDoor claiming to be from a neighbour in my street with a name that we did not recognise. Apparently this neighbour had signed up for NextDoor to keep our street safe and exchange important information yada yada yada...
Needless to say it's total horse shit - none of us are using their scummy platform and have absolutely no desire to.
So they're preying on people's fears, and hoping that some kind of FOMO plus the fear of being stabbed in your sleep if you don't know what's going on in your street will get people on to their platform.
"<family member> wants you to be their emergency contact on Nextdoor. In case of emergency, <family member> wants their neighbors to be able to message you via Nextdoor. Please accept their invitation to join and connect on Nextdoor so that you can be their emergency contact."
This is scummy manipulation also. They now have my email address. That's an emergency contact, right there. But they aren't going to let anyone use it unless I "join".
I accept that there's a case for needing my permission here. I'd be happy to give them permission to email me if a signed-up neighbour of my family member wants to send me an emergency message. But no, I have to sign up for their entire service first.
I passed, and selected the "don't email me again" option. If my family member wants the neighbors to be able to contact me, then they can pass on my phone or email directly.
I live in the UK in a cul-de-sac with about 25 houses in the street. We've lived here about 4 years and have a dog so we have bumped in to all the neighbours and know all of them by name at least.
I get a note through my door from NextDoor claiming to be from a neighbour in my street with a name that we did not recognise. Apparently this neighbour had signed up for NextDoor to keep our street safe and exchange important information yada yada yada...
Needless to say it's total horse shit - none of us are using their scummy platform and have absolutely no desire to.
So they're preying on people's fears, and hoping that some kind of FOMO plus the fear of being stabbed in your sleep if you don't know what's going on in your street will get people on to their platform.