Do You Think Neighborhoods Should Have Their Own Social Media Pages?

Dave and I have lived in Sartell for nearly three years now. When we first moved into the neighborhood we were invited to be part of an exclusive neighborhood only Facebook group. Initially I was excited about it and thought it would be a good way to connect with the neighbors.

However, it didn't take long to realize that it wasn't the best idea. I thought the page was going to be a place where our neighbors would spread positive thoughts and watch out for one another.

Instead, the neighbors use the social media site to passive-aggressively complain about each other. The most recent incident was yesterday. One neighbor, we'll call her neighbor A, complained that she was screamed at by another neighbor for driving the speed limit on her way to work that morning. She wanted to let everyone know that she didn't appreciate it.

The neighbor that did the alleged screaming, we'll call her neighbor B, decided to comment back and tell her why she thought she was driving the speed limit was way too fast when the neighborhood kids were waiting for the bus. The two went back and forth with a few curse words exchanged for all of our neighborhood to see.

Then, neighbor C decided to chime in with what the speed limit laws are in our area. Meanwhile, the post views kept growing and growing. So, a conversation that should have been had between two people were now made public on the entire social media site for all of the neighbors to look at and take sides. This has become pretty typical for our neighborhood. The page is used for scolding and complaining not getting to know one another and sharing good news about cool things happening in our area.

Our question this morning on the 'Mixed Up Morning Show' is, do you think social media sites and groups for your neighborhood are a good thing or have they turned into a bad thing?