The Nazis Next Door
Neighborhood site a hotbed of rancor.
Dayum! If I hadn’t already been convinced of peoples’ assholiness, the site known as nextdoor.com would surely turn my head around.
Many of you are probably already familiar with it. I wasn’t until my darling sister told me about a website where people could sell their stuff…even give it away, voice concerns about community doings, and interact with their neighbors.
Since my husband and I really don’t know our neighbors, as nobody seems to interact on our block, I thought, “Hey, this might be fun. Who knows? Maybe I can make a friend or two.”
Bullshit.
Now I know why I’m becoming a misanthrope. So many people simply cannot grasp the concept of the “Golden Rule.” In other words, treating others like we’d like to be treated.
I learned this the hard way when I innocently initiated a post about the speedsters in our neighborhoods. The disrespectful ignoramuses in their muscle cars and on their hogs that think that it’s permissible to burn rubber at 90 mph in a 30 mph zone!
The comments came out of the woodwork like roaches in an abandoned building.
There was a lot of support and agreement from others in the area, but then, there are always those folks so bitter about their lives and themselves that they just have to turn a peaceful discourse into an all-out shit show.
One woman, in particular, a 32-year-old, empty-headed twat, decided to take an instant dislike to me — a complete stranger! Naturally, she took umbrage at my complaint and proceeded to bombard me and several other people with venom-laced statements so ludicrous as to be nearly unfathomable.
Like a petulant child, she proclaimed that she “liked the noise.” And if people wanted to race their cars, and “feel the power,” well, you know…it was cool with her.
“C’mere. I’ll give you something to feel.’
Never have I wanted to smack a bitch like I wanted to smack her. In the tiny picture accompanying her posts, she looked nuts. I later checked her out on LinkedIn and yeah, there too, she looked nuts.
Just like “stupid,” you can’t fix “nuts.”
Another woman told me that I should just “talk” to the drag racers rather than call the police as that would make me look like a shit.
“Talk” to them? How? Race down the middle of the road, hands waving, shrieking at the top of my lungs?
Does it get any stupider, folks?
After a while, I guess I became a boring target because people started taking off after one another.
In particular, the twat and another guy got into it over dog pee and poop. He apparently had it on camera that she blithely allowed her dog to take frequent dumps without cleaning up afterward and she responded that she was going to let her dog “pee on your lawn.”
And these are “neighbors?”
My post attracted over 200 comments. After a while, I just sat back and watched it all go to shit as people accused each other of spying, letting their trash spillover, neglecting their lawns, and all manner of “real-world problems.”
This is why we’re in the fix we’re in. Nextdoor.com is a microcosm of society’s ills. It’s all there people: Unreasonable hatred, sexism, racism, and abject ignorance.
What a surprise!
You don’t have to believe me. (That said, have I ever lied to you?) Here are a couple of reviews that support my point of view:
“My account was suspended because I was responding to posts that were attacking my option and point of view. Nextdoor blocked my Freedom of Speech. Here is what they sent me: Don’t use Nextdoor as a soapbox Nextdoor enables neighbors to mobilize to get stuff done. While advocating for one’s beliefs is welcome, ranting, overposting, hijacking, or dominating conversations is prohibited. We also have rules on where members may post about non-local, political, and controversial issues. Learn more about this guideline and our moderation process.”
“A place to harass and bully your neighbors”
“Nextdoor has suspended me numerous times. One for abbreviating last name for safety reasons I told them about. Other times when I chose humor over nastiness, but the poster got butthurt and complained. I see all kinds of ugliness on my Nextdoor. I’ve always been informative. Nextdoor can discriminate at will and there’s no oversight. It can be so much more than a “have you seen my cat”? site, but chooses to censor at will.”
“There are no neutral moderators on the site, and one person can get rid of everyone who doesn’t agree with them, even if there’s no content to oppose them on the site, itself, if they know you from the neighborhood, creating a closed bubble of neighbors who can mutiny the entire neighborhood using this platform. I’d call it downright dangerous.”
“A toilet of a site that is roughshod by unpaid Gestapo “moderators” imposing their social and political views on others. It is technically illegal as it acts as an agent for local governments and police posting their news and alerts. This puts them into a class that demands reasonable free speech. This is never achieved with the untrained volunteer moderators who then become a groupthink gang not allowing any other moderators outside their clique. They seem to duck out of lawsuits. They are clearly in the wrong.”
Did you catch that bit about “Gestapo moderators?” That’s right on the money, my friends. If you’re attacked and attempt to retaliate, your post is immediately evaluated and an ominous message pops up asking, “Do you really want to publish this?”
Fuck, yes!
In fact, and my recollection is a bit dim, but I’m guessing I used a four-letter word in one of my responses to the twat as my account was suspended for a few days.
Then magically, after my time-out, I was back! Reinstated! Huzzah!
Fuck ‘em.
“Neighbors,” my ass.
Sherry McGuinn is a slightly-twisted, longtime Chicago-area writer and award-winning screenwriter. Her work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and numerous other publications. Sherry’s manager is currently pitching her newest screenplay, a drama with dark, comedic overtones and inspired by a true story.
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