New Internet Networks Offer Improved Communications within Subdivisions

If your subdivision or metro area has been hit with some burglaries, you may want to link up with neighbors online. A website called "Nextdoor" and a similar one called "i-Neighbors" allow residents to set up social networks linked not by friendships or interests - but geography.

In a society in which fewer people really know their neighbors, the sites help people connect and can be a valuable tool to combat crime. In some places, police are actively working to get neighborhoods on-line to help share information and stifle criminal activity.

Residents now have a way to communicate with one another if they see something suspicious or out of place. If they spot vandalism or something that just doesn't look right, they can post it to the site to alert residents and the county police.

Members can post a photo of themselves and offer as much, or as little, information about themselves and their families as they want. Some people put up a photo of their front doors rather than photos of themselves. Over 100 neighborhoods are now using one site or the other.

Check out the video at http://www.nextdoor.com and http://www.i-neighbors.org.

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