Washington EMD Partners with Nextdoor, the Private Social Network for Neighborhoods
Posted on Sep 14, 2017 By Site Admin
Washington EMD Partners with Nextdoor, the Private Social Network for Neighborhoods
CAMP MURRAY, WA. - The Washington Emergency Management Division announced that it has started using Nextdoor (nextdoor.com), the private social network for neighborhoods, to improve statewide communications by connecting with residents on a hyper-local level. With National Preparedness Month in full swing and the recent fires affecting many across the state, this partnership serves as another way Washington EMD can help residents better prepare and recover.
This integration enables the Washington Emergency Management Division to use Nextdoor to build stronger, safer and more prepared communities with the help of Washington residents. On Nextdoor, Washington EMD and Nextdoor neighborhoods are able to work together to strengthen community engagement and better prepare for, mitigate and recover from emergency situations.
“Having the ability to easily communicate with residents is vital to increasing preparedness and resiliency within our Washington communities,” said Washington Emergency Management Division Director Robert Ezelle. “With Nextdoor, we can send hyper-local hazard warnings and updates directly into neighborhoods, which allows us to quickly reach residents in times of need and gives us another tool to work with local emergency management agencies that need help amplifying key messages. For example, with the ongoing wildfires across Washington, we were able to send a message to residents encouraging them to reduce their time outdoors to protect against smoke inhalation and tell people where to get timely updates on the fires that matter to them.”
Nextdoor is popular with Washington neighborhoods. More than 4,000 neighborhoods across the state are connected and communicating on the social network.
With Nextdoor, Washington residents create private neighborhood websites to share information, including neighborhood public safety issues, community events and activities, local services, and even lost pets. Washington EMD is able to post information, such as important news, services, programs, free events, and emergency notifications to Nextdoor websites within the state.
Nextdoor is free for residents and public agency departments. Each Washington neighborhood has its own private Nextdoor neighborhood website, accessible only to residents of that neighborhood. Neighborhoods establish and self-manage their own Nextdoor website and Washington EMD is not able to access residents’ websites, contact information, or content. All members must verify that they live within the neighborhood before joining Nextdoor. Information shared on Nextdoor is password protected and cannot be accessed by Google or other search engines. Washington public record laws and policies will still apply to Nextdoor content as it does with all state agency content.
The Washington Emergency Management Division joins more than 2,500 public agencies across the country that are using Nextdoor for Public Agencies to build stronger relationships with residents.
Those interested in joining their neighborhood’s Nextdoor website can visit nextdoor.com and enter their address. Agencies interested in connecting with residents on Nextdoor can visit nextdoor.com/agency.
See the Washington Emergency Management Division’s public Nextdoor page, here.
