It’s one of the big names in tech: Sarah Friar. At the head of the neighborhood social network Nextdoor (81 million users worldwide), the CEO advocates the development of an alternative platform to Facebook and Twitter, and ensures, in particular thanks to generative artificial intelligence, the benevolent civility of its users’ messages. 20 minutes could meet her.
Nextdoor has existed in France since 2018. What is your assessment of these five years of activity?
France is one of our youngest markets and Nextdoor will need time to establish itself, but the results are positive, especially in large cities. In Paris and Ile-de-France, for example, we reach one in six households. It’s a bit like a city like Toronto, Canada. And there is a tipping point. From then on, it becomes fast to reach one in four households, as in the United Kingdom and London. There is a “network” effect.
How do people use Nextdoor, what is this application for them?
50% of our users come to Nextdoor every week. And those 50% are very active, coming back at least four times a week. It’s more than on Pinterest, YouTube and even Twitter. Three main reasons motivate our users.
First, get reliable information. People are looking to share local information, such as the opening hours of the town hall, for example. The second reason is seeking help for something specific: finding a plumber, a baby sitter. Finally, the quest for real-life experiences drives engagement. Unlike other platforms, the probability is very high on Nextdoor to meet a close person, with whom you share affinities.
Nextdoor is said to be the anti-Facebook. Is it justified?
What Nextdoor brings more is hyperlocal. When you communicate on our network, you come into contact with neighbors around you, which is not found on Facebook which is a rather friendly and family network, nor on Twitter which acts as a network broadcasting global. The other aspect is the emphasis on community and utility. We prefer to talk about the things that are done, rather than those that we show. We are not into entertainment.
How to avoid the excesses, abuses, even harassment, that we see on other networks?
Nextdoor is built on the idea of trust. We ask that you introduce yourself with your real name. So there is a high probability that someone knows you on the platform. What I don’t like with virtual environments is that you can be anonymous. Nextdoor comes with more responsibility. It’s hard to behave badly there, when we could have a coffee together or meet on the football field on weekend with our children!
Then we moderate differently. Anyone can report abuse which will be dealt with by our 220,000 very active and very fast local moderators (in less than 5 hours, on average). I’m really proud of this look! In our transparency report, there are only 2% of negative opinions on this point. I think, honestly, that we are much more advanced than others at this level.
And then, we have developed generative AI which, depending on its models, can also detect in real time messages contrary to our directives, before they are posted. Therefore, a window pop up will open in the app and prompt you to reconsider. People don’t like being lectured.
Does this issue come up regularly?
It doesn’t happen often, because in the end, there’s not so much negative content. But a third of people review their posts with this invitation to more “kindness”. So it’s not perfect, you have to convince the remaining two-thirds. And if you don’t want to change your message, our generative AI still offers you a more constructive way to say things.
How does Nextdoor use our data?
We really want to try to use data for our users to benefit from, not for our benefit. But we make sure to give them as much control as possible. Thus, for example, you can indicate your real name, or, if you do not wish, simply put your first name with an initial. You can also give your full address, or just your neighborhood address, so that we have different ways to identify you.
Obviously we use this data to optimize your newsfeed. So we want to make sure that if you’re a pet lover or really interested in local businesses, we’ll likely put these posts ahead of others. We thus favor the diversity of a district, with different age groups, different socio-economic classes. The idea, with Nextdoor, is that in addition to the personalities and affinities of each, it is also possible to find common ground.
You are a woman of influence, one of the main actors in the tech world. Do you find that the place of women is changing as quickly as you would like?
No. And I became all the more aware of this following an event organized at McKinsey, with women of a certain age and many leaders, a good way for me to promote Nextdoor! Still, the statistics mentioned that day were clear: in tech, there would be only 15% women! Personally, I find that the right number should be at least 50%… This is ridiculous and a little sad. There are a lot of female executives, but if we don’t show that we are successful, we will struggle to inspire the next generation.
How many social networks do you think we can live with?
Excellent question! As a mother of teenagers, I am particularly vigilant about the time spent by my children in front of their small glass screens. You have to monitor these things, the time spent on applications.
Of course, I’m tech-savvy, if there’s a new app to try, I try it, but there’s a balance to be struck. The Covid has shown us how much we also need physical connections.