Nextdoor is trying to prevent neighbors from arguing about the midterms
The service will remind users to avoid letting election-related conversations from getting “heated.”
Nextdoor is gearing up for a potentially contentious election season. Ahead of the midterms, the company says it will label election-related posts with information about how to vote, and will use in-app alerts to remind users to not let political conversations get overly “heated.”
In a blog post, the company says it will use “pop-up reminders” to encourage “civil political discourse” on election-related posts. “Nextdoor will use pop-up reminders when hurtful or harmful language is detected or anticipated via predictive technology,” the company writes.
It’s not the first time the company has used these kinds of reminders to discourage nastiness between neighbors. The company previously introduced in-app alerts to remind people to be “empathetic” and keep conversations “constructive.” The latest notifications mirror that language. “Conversations about the election can get heated,” it says. “Check to make sure you’ve phrased it in a constructive way.”
Besides the reminders, the company is also partnering with vote.org and other organizations on in-app messages to encourage turnout and provide resources on how to register to vote.
