Tracy Ann Welhaven on why she launched and operates the enormously popular "Parkwood Neighborhood in Duluth, MN" private group page on Facebook: "As a dog walker, I've met a lot of people in the neighborhood. When you stopped and chatted with them, you'd find out that someone rummaged through their car or they had bears in their garbage for two weeks in a row as a couple of examples.
No one was using the neighborhood app to communicate with their neighbors that these occurances were happening. I am a member of the Neighborhood App, but personally, I do not like it, and it's not for me. I personally felt it was full of bullies and a lot of mean-spirited folks along with late or no notifications of what my neighbors posted. So I created the neighborhood page that is only exclusive to people living in my neighborhood where people could communicate freely of what is happening our neighborhood without fear of someone publicly attacking them or passing judgment on them or even coming to their home in a unwelcomed status. I saw and heard of many circumstances of this happening due to info being shared on other Facebook neighborhood pages.
My goal of the page was to not create a page of gossip but to create a forum of communication and create an environment where people were informed. In my opinion there is a sense of unity and strength community that comes with that.
If a coyote runs through my yard, I want my neighbors to know. If I didn't share that info and something happened to one of my neighbors' pets, I would feel horrible. If someone caught someone going through their car, they could post it alerting their neighbors. If someone has welcomed a new addition to their family like a baby or furbaby, it's a great bragging right to post.
A success story of this page happened recently when one of our neighbors found a lost dog roaming the neighborhood after a rain storm had passed. It was so awesome to see my neighbors working together to safely return the dog to its owner. Those are just some of the reasons why I created the page."
