The Madison Park Community Council (MPCC) recently made a decision to withdraw from Nextdoor, and it has posted the following statement on its website (www.madisonparkcouncil.org/nextdoor): “The Madison Park Community Council no longer maintains a presence on the social network Nextdoor.com. While Nextdoor is a free and private social network for neighborhoods, we were notified that nonprofit organizations and community service organizations are not allowed to utilize Nextdoor in an official capacity at this time.”
I have recently asked the council to improve its communications and accountability (in previous Letters to the Editor in the Madison Park Times) with the neighbors they represent in Madison Park, Broadmoor, Washington Park and Denny-Blaine. The decision to withdraw is unnecessary and sad for all concerned since [the council] just started using Nextdoor to communicate with us in the neighborhoods.
I am the Nextdoor lead for Madison Park, but I did not participate in the discussions between the council and Nextdoor, nor did I know anything about it until I read it on the updated MPCC website. I contacted Nextdoor after reading the above quote from the MPCC, and I can only say that I am not satisfied with the Nextdoor’s responses I have received so far.
I went one step further and checked the Nextdoor Member Agreement at nextdoor.com/member_agreement. It says nothing about nonprofits, and yes, MPCC is a 501(c)3 that allows donations to be tax-deductible.
Based on my reading of this, MPCC should be OK with an individual membership just like other councils are using.
[According to Nexdoor:] “Eligibility. Each person can only have one account per residence, and you may not share your account password with anyone else (even a family member sharing your home) or allow someone else to use your account. You must use your real name, not a pseudonym. If you are under 13 years old (or any older age of consent required to use social media services where you live), do not use our services or provide any data to us. Convicted sex offenders, including registered sex offenders, and their households are not eligible for Nextdoor accounts; and we may also deny other account registrations we think would harm a Nextdoor neighborhood.”
There is nothing wrong with posting council meeting notices, meeting results and special events. MPCC should be able to communicate via Nextdoor just like other community councils in Seattle are doing today. Nextdoor must apply the rules equally to all councils, not just to MPCC.
Nextdoor’s eligibility rules state that each account must be for an individual, and I would hope MPCC would try this method, and it have my full support in doing so! Let’s hope MPCC will work with Nextdoor so that it can communicate with the four neighborhoods it represents.
Again, I would like to thank MPCC for starting to implement the changes needed to improve communication and accountability. Hopefully, this kerfuffle is resolved quickly. This letter states the situation as of Jan. 20, 2016, and hopefully, this problem is resolved soon and before you read this, too!
Reg Newbeck
Madison Park