Nextdoor Is Playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon With Publix

I saw an interesting Nextdoor post on LinkedIn.

Nextdoor highlighted that Publix Super Markets landed at No. 4 on PEOPLE's 100 Companies That Care list.

The story itself is absolutely worth recognizing.

As Hurricane Milton approached Florida, a Publix associate reportedly checked Nextdoor, discovered an elderly neighbor who needed distilled water for her nebulizer, delivered it, secured her patio furniture, cleared debris, and then helped another neighbor with sandbags.

That's a great story.

And congratulations to the Publix associate who did all that.

But then Nextdoor connected the story to itself:

“This is the kind of thing that happens when a network is built around real, local neighborhoods.”

Hold on.

Are we playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon now?

If Someone Uses Your App, Do You Get Credit for What They Do?

The Publix employee deserves the praise.

Publix deserves recognition for employing someone who apparently demonstrated exactly the kind of community spirit that earned the company a place on the list.

But Nextdoor?

The employee opened an app.

The app was a tool.

There's a difference between providing a tool and performing the good deed.

I shop at Publix.

I buy groceries there.

Their subs have practically developed their own fan club, and don't even get me started on the carrot cake.

So, using this logic, every time I buy a Publix sub, I'm helping generate revenue that helps Publix employ people.

One of those employees might help a neighbor.

Therefore...

Where's my PEOPLE award?

I'll wait.

Speaking of That Top 100...

Another part of this caught my attention.

Publix came in at an impressive No. 4.

Nextdoor's post celebrates that accomplishment and its own small connection to one of the stories highlighted.

But there's one company I don't see in the Top 100:

Nextdoor.

Now that makes me curious.

If Nextdoor wants to connect itself to a company recognized as one of the 100 Companies That Care, I'd be interested to know where Nextdoor would land if the list continued.

No. 101?

No. 247?

No. 1,382?

I genuinely don't know.

Maybe Nextdoor would be right outside the Top 100. Maybe it wouldn't be anywhere close.

But that's the more interesting question to me.

Instead of borrowing a little glow from a company that did make the list, what would Nextdoor need to do as an organization to earn a spot of its own?

The Hammer Doesn't Get Credit for Building the House

If someone uses Google Maps to find a food bank and then volunteers there, does Google get credit for feeding people?

If someone drives a Ford to donate blood, does Ford get credit for the donation?

If someone texts a neighbor using an iPhone and then helps clean up their yard, does Apple get the community-service award?

Technology can enable something without being responsible for what happened.

That's an important distinction.

Nextdoor gave this Publix employee a way to discover that a neighbor needed help.

That's valuable.

Say that.

Celebrate that.

But don't climb onto the employee's shoulders and start waving from the parade float.

Nextdoor Actually Has Something Worth Celebrating Here

That's what makes this frustrating.

Nextdoor doesn't need to ride anyone's coattails.

This story demonstrates a legitimate use case for the platform:

A neighbor needed help.

Another neighbor discovered that need through Nextdoor.

The neighbor acted.

That's enough.

Nextdoor could have said:

“We're proud that our platform helped connect neighbors during a hurricane.”

Great.

I'd applaud that.

Instead, the post reads to me like Nextdoor is stretching someone else's act of kindness into evidence supporting its own corporate narrative.

And after all the feedback I've provided about communication, trust, and authenticity, I think Nextdoor should be more careful about that distinction.

Give the Credit to the Person Who Earned It

This isn't complicated.

Publix associate: Helped neighbors prepare for a hurricane. 👏

Publix: Recognized as one of PEOPLE's Companies That Care. 👏

Nextdoor: Provided a platform that helped one neighbor discover another neighbor needed assistance. 👍

Those are three different things.

You can acknowledge all three without pretending they're the same accomplishment.

Nextdoor talks frequently about real people, real neighborhoods, and authentic connections.

Great.

Then put the real person who performed the act at the center of the story.

Don't make someone else's good deed your corporate victory lap.

Celebrate the employee.

Celebrate Publix.

Be proud that your technology played a small role in connecting neighbors.

Then stop.

Nextdoor doesn't need Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon to demonstrate its value.

It needs to demonstrate its own value.

Do better. Stop riding coattails—and let the people who actually did the work receive the applause.

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