Nextdoor Published a Study About Trust. This Is More Like It.

I have spent a lot of time providing feedback about Nextdoor's Insights reports, so when the company does something substantially better, I think it's important to say so.

Nextdoor's new “The State of Neighborhood Trust” report, produced with The Harris Poll, is much closer to what I've been asking to see.

This looks and reads like an actual research report.

Not simply a blog post with percentages and a statement that more information exists somewhere else.

The report is 24 pages long. It identifies the research partner, describes the sample, discusses methodology, presents findings in context, includes statistical analysis, identifies outside sources, and provides a research contact. Nextdoor Blog

Read Nextdoor and The Harris Poll's full Neighborhood Trust study

Bravo, Nextdoor.

Yes, I actually said that.

Screenshot it before somebody blocks me. 😂

This Is What I've Been Asking For

Nextdoor commissioned the research, and The Harris Poll fielded it in April 2026 among about 1,000 U.S. adults age 18 and older. Respondents came through The Harris Poll's online panel and were weighted to reflect the U.S. adult population. Nextdoor says it then analyzed the findings and conducted statistical modeling examining factors associated with trust and outcomes including safety, belonging, civic participation and reliance on neighbor recommendations. Nextdoor Blog

The accompanying Nextdoor article provides even more methodological detail: the survey was conducted April 16–20 among 1,003 adults, weighting included age within gender, region, race/ethnicity, marital status, household size, income, education and political affiliation where necessary, and the reported Bayesian credible interval is ±3.8 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Nextdoor also acknowledges other potential sources of survey error. Nextdoor Blog

That's transparency.

Could there be more?

Sure.

I'd love to see an appendix containing the questionnaire, complete crosstabs and additional demographic breakouts. Since The Harris Poll fielded the survey, it would also be useful to provide a Harris Poll contact or link explaining whether additional demographic information, questionnaires or crosstabs can be obtained.

But that's me asking for the cherry on top rather than wondering where the sundae went.

This report gives readers enough information to begin understanding where the numbers came from and how the research was conducted.

And the Subject Is…Trust

This is where things become particularly interesting given my recent experience with Nextdoor.

The entire report revolves around trust.

One finding says 66% identify friendly day-to-day interactions as something that builds neighborhood trust. Meanwhile, the leading factor respondents identified as weakening neighborhood trust was lack of communication, at 46%. Nextdoor Blog

Read that again.

Lack of communication: 46%.

I've been writing about communication for more than 100 days.

You couldn't script this better.

The study says trust grows through regular opportunities to communicate, interact, and rely on one another. It also says the strongest predictors include how easy people feel reaching their neighbors and how often they actually interact. Nextdoor Blog

That's not my interpretation of what Nextdoor should believe.

That's in Nextdoor's own report.

Then Nirav Tolia Says This

The report includes a statement from CEO Nirav Tolia:

“The difference between a neighborhood and a community is trust.”

That's a powerful statement. Nextdoor Blog

And that's precisely why I can't ignore the contrast with my experience.

Yesterday I discovered that Nirav had blocked me on X.

Again.

For the second time in roughly six months.

I don't know why Nirav blocked me. Only he knows his reason, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

He also doesn't have an obligation to personally engage with every person who comments on his social media account.

But I'm allowed to ask what message the action sends to me.

Because I'm not some anonymous account that appeared yesterday screaming at the CEO.

I'm a shareholder.

I've spent months publicly documenting questions about Nextdoor.

I've repeatedly offered to have an actual conversation.

I've said I'd rather talk than type.

And for more than 100 days I've been pursuing detailed research that Nextdoor itself told readers was available by contacting its Insights representative.

Now I'm reading a Nextdoor report telling me:

Trust depends on communication.

You can't make this stuff up.

Trust Has to Work in Both Directions

Another line in the report fascinates me.

Nextdoor writes that trust is built through repeated interactions, communication, and confidence that others will respond when it matters. Nextdoor Blog

Exactly.

That shouldn't only apply neighbor to neighbor.

I think it's a valuable principle for company-to-customer, leadership-to-shareholder, platform-to-user, and executive-to-stakeholder relationships too.

Trust isn't created by saying the word trust repeatedly.

It isn't created by putting trust in the title of a 24-page PDF.

And it isn't automatically created because a company commissions a reputable polling organization.

Trust grows when words and experiences begin matching.

That's what makes this new report simultaneously encouraging and fascinating to me.

The Research Is Actually Helping Build Trust

Here's where I give Nextdoor genuine credit.

This report increases my confidence in these findings because Nextdoor told me how the research was conducted.

That's exactly how transparency builds trust.

Compare:

“67% of Americans say, X.”

Okay. Where did that number come from?

Versus:

Here's who conducted the survey. Here's when it was conducted. Here's the population. Here's the sample. Here's how respondents were recruited. Here's how weighting worked. Here's the statistical approach. Here are limitations. Here are outside sources. Here's a research contact.

Now we're talking.

Interestingly, the PDF once again lists Jacob Chavis, Senior Manager, Customer Insights, along with his Nextdoor email address as the research contact. Nextdoor Blog

Jacob and I already have some history.

😂

Maybe This Is Progress

I've said throughout this case study that if Nextdoor does something I think is good, I'll say it's good.

This report is progress.

I don't know whether my months of posts had anything whatsoever to do with the format. I have no evidence that they did, so I'm not taking credit.

Maybe Nextdoor was already moving toward more comprehensive research reports.

Maybe working with The Harris Poll resulted in a more rigorous presentation.

Maybe somebody inside Nextdoor independently said, We should probably show people how we got these numbers.

Whatever the reason:

Keep doing this.

And take it one step further.

Provide a Harris Poll link or research contact.

Make additional demographic tables available.

Publish questionnaires where appropriate.

Provide downloadable crosstabs.

Let researchers, journalists, advertisers, shareholders, and curious bald bloggers dig deeper.

That's how confidence in research grows.

Now Apply the Research to Leadership

That's my bigger challenge to Nextdoor.

The report says communication matters.

It says repeated interaction matters.

It says accessibility matters.

It says trust helps communities function.

And its CEO says the difference between a neighborhood and a community is trust. Nextdoor Blog

Great.

Apply those principles internally and externally.

When somebody asks a difficult question, communicate.

When somebody provides feedback, listen.

When somebody requests information that you've advertised as available, answer.

When a shareholder repeatedly offers to have a conversation, perhaps conversation is more consistent with the company's message than another block button.

Nirav doesn't have to agree with me.

Nextdoor doesn't have to agree with me.

Jacob doesn't have to agree with me.

Nobody has to like my posts.

But if we're going to talk about rebuilding trust through communication and interaction, then I think it's fair to ask Nextdoor's leadership to demonstrate the same behavior it celebrates in its research.

Trust is a great research topic.

It's an even better leadership practice.

And this time, Nextdoor, on the research itself:

Bravo. Keep going.

👉 Read my continuing Nextdoor case study at NielFlamm.com/blog