Missed Flight, Missed Conversation — Day 16 of Silence

Sometimes timing decides things for you.

My #AmericanAirlines flight 1890 from LAS to DFW on January 4 was canceled. The brief window I had hoped to use to meet #NiravTolia in person is, for now, gone. In that sense, Nirav lucked out — even though neither he nor anyone from #Nextdoor reached out to have the conversation in the first place.

That said, the door is still open. #NiravTolia and #Nextdoor — we can still meet.

In the meantime, today marks Day 16 of #Nextdoor’s voluntary silence:

- No LinkedIn post

- No Facebook post

- No update on the Nextdoor blog

I’ve been reading recent posts from companies that proudly claim they are customer-centric. It raises an obvious question: How is silence customer-centric? Neighbor-centric? Advertiser-centric? Shareholder-centric?

#Nextdoor’s brand promise is connection. Yet the absence of a leadership voice, combined with an unpaid and inconsistently governed moderator model, is doing the opposite. Moderators are meant to help build trust and connection; instead, inconsistency and opacity erode it. And leadership silence doesn’t just fail to fix the problem — it amplifies it.

Connection doesn’t happen by waiting for the calendar to cooperate. It happens when leaders show up, engage, and talk — even when it’s uncomfortable. Growth hurts. Complacency is easy.

Day 16 is still counting.

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#Nextdoor #Leadership #Accountability #CustomerExperience #CX #CommunityTrust #ShareholderVoice #BrandTrust #ShowUp