Meta is canceling Facebook's Neighborhoods, the platform's Nextdoor-like feature. The company is canceling Neighborhoods even before it rolls out to most users.
Neighborhoods Rolls Out to Select Users in Canada and US
Neighborhoods is a Nextdoor-like product, launched in May 2021 with the aim of connecting users who lived near each other. According to Meta, it is a feature of Facebook that allows people to interact with their local communities.
According to CNET, it is made to rival Nextdoor. The feature is after "expanding Facebook Groups with more functionality." Through it, users will be able to find nearby users, businesses, and associations.
While groups that focus on local communities aren't new, users would find special features with Neighborhoods spaces, as per CNET.
The said Facebook feature let users create separate profiles. In these profiles, if they don't want other to know a lot about them, they can just include limited public information.
Moreover, there is a Neighborhoods tab which allows users to locate groups for specific activities.
The company initially made it available to select users in Canada in 2020. In 2021, Meta expanded the test to different communities across Canada and the U.S.
Among the U.S. cities where the feature was tested were Charlotte, North Carolina; San Diego; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Newark, New Jersey.
"When we launched Facebook Neighborhoods, our mission was to bring local communities closer together," Meta spokesperson Leah Luchetti explained over an email.
Luchetti also shared that Meta learned that the best way to bring local communities closer together is through groups. With this, the company has decided to end its test of Neighborhoods.
According to Engadget, the company will end Neighborhoods's test on October 1. After that date, the said feature will no longer be available.
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Neighborhoods Will Shut Down on October 1
According to TechCrunch, social media consultant Matt Navarra first witnessed the upcoming shutdown of Facebook Neighborhoods. In a post, Navarra shared a screenshot send to him by a product manager announcing Meta's plan to end the test.
As mentioned earlier, Neighborhoods had indeed "expanded into hundreds of local communities" across the U.S. and Canada but it would stop being available after October 1.
According to Meta, they will instead highlight Facebook Groups which is relevant to users' interests and location.
The company decided to abandon local-only Neighborhoods to urge users to engage in Groups that they can discover in search.
Through Groups, users will be able connect to each other. Moreover, they will be able to discuss in "subgroups" called Channels, as per CNET.
The move of Facebook to delve away from local content was made during a time when it is trying to compete with TikTok. According to TechCrunch, the company is trying to focus more on becoming "a recommendation, and discovery engine" for content.
Meta's decision to end the test for Neighborhoods also comes as Nextdoor added more social features. One of these features allows users to be connected to each other in order for their activity to appear in the news feeds.
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