User:Saskiajw/sandbox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Citychattr,is Canada's answer to a Neighbourhood social network and focuses on Ontario communities. At its simplest level it brings people together around a shared interest such a as education, healthcare, land development, transportation or housing. City Chattr's goal is to create community engagement which is at the heart of representative democracy. It is the process of building relationships with neighbourhood residents and interested parties who will work side-by-side with each other as an ongoing partner, building an army of support for a community project, with the end goal of making the neighbourhood a better place to live. Like Nextdoor it's American counterpart it attempts to draw users who are disappointed with the lack of privacy provided by Facebook[1].

The site is in beta testing with 560 neighbourhoods in Ontario until Sept 27th 2012. At the launch, its partners 3dCondox.com and vtrendtech.com will deliver a North American exclusive 3D interactive MLS listings. Beginning in Mimico, a neighbourhood of Toronto and branching out from there Citychattr.ca will offer neighbourhoods an opportunity to bring together residents with local businesses, city officals, developers, media and non-profits. Normally this would be a messy, time-consuming, expensive and difficult task but the understanding and trust that it builds is worth the expenditure. Putting a community online eliminates these four issues but it doesn't replace the face to face interaction if just starts the conversation, particulatly with people who have privacy or trust issues. It has been characterized by The Washington Post as part of a "wave" of community focus in the United States.[3] They also hope to capitalize on what they perceive to be a widespread longing for local community at a time when online social networks are widely used. The site was in beta testing in 176 neighborhoods until October 2011.[4] They plan to sell advertising targeted to local businesses.[4] Nextdoor also hopes to facilitate exchanges of goods and services in a manner similar to Craigslist. They believe, however, that users will be more comfortable trusting other verified users than they would using Craigslist.[5] Recommendations of area resources are also provided. Chenda Ngak of CBS News has compared the site to a "College Bulletin Board".[2] door was co-founded by Nirav Tolia, who based the company in San Francisco, California.[8] Tolia had previously helped start Epinions. Early investors include Benchmark Capital, Shasta Ventures, and Rich Barton. As of October 2011, Nextdoor had 22 employees.[4]