Nextdoor’s Transparency Report Highlights Impact of AI-Led Innovation, Maintaining Very Low Levels of Harmful Content Reported on the Platform

Today, Nextdoor (NYSE: KIND) released its 2023 Transparency Report, showcasing the positive impact of the ongoing investments in neighborhood vitality. Nextdoor is committed to delivering a welcoming platform for neighbors, businesses, and public agencies on the platform, cultivating stronger, more trusted communities across the 315,000+ neighborhoods on Nextdoor. This report attributes this year's continuously low levels of content violations to Nextdoor's innovative product, policy, and moderation strategies.

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Nextdoor Transparency Report highlights (Graphic: Business Wire)

"The 2023 Transparency Report reflects our dedication to merging technology like generative AI and machine learning with human understanding, cultivating a space for authentic and meaningful connections among neighbors across the globe,” said Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar. “We’re pleased to see another year of extremely low levels of content reported on the platform, which speaks to our innovative approach to community moderation and safety."

Over the past year, Nextdoor iterated on core features prioritizing constructive conversations in comments, introduced generative AI to drive engagement and civility, and expanded opportunities to appeal account actions to continue building trust and fairness on the platform.

The report highlights Nextdoor's blend of human insight and product innovations like generative AI to foster constructive conversations. Nextdoor's Kindness Reminder, initially designed to promote civility by encouraging neighbors to edit potentially harmful content, evolved with the integration of generative AI in 2023. This AI-enhanced feature now suggests constructive revisions for flagged comments, improving tone and contextual understanding. As the report reveals, the deployment of this technology was following review under Nextdoor’s rigorous Generative AI Ethics Principles and auditing by Nextdoor’s Neighborhood Vitality Advisory Board, a group of expert and leading social scientists. The results are impressive: 36% of neighbors who encountered either version of the Kindness Reminder chose to edit or withhold their potentially harmful content, contributing to a 15% reduction in Community Guidelines violations.

"Participating in the red teaming process for Nextdoor's AI integration gave me a firsthand view of how the company is dedicated to ethical AI use, particularly in enhancing the Kindness Reminder,” said Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and CEO, and Nextdoor Neighborhood Vitality Advisory Board member. “We must ensure the AI respects and understands the diversity of community interactions. Such thorough auditing is crucial for ensuring technology genuinely serves and respects our diverse communities."

The report also details the ongoing success of Nextdoor's innovative community moderation strategy, which relies on local volunteers using special tools and inclusivity workshops to enforce Community Guidelines.

"Nextdoor’s commitment to fostering inclusive and respectful communities is evidenced in their work to train community members to moderate discussions," said Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt, Stanford University professor and author, and Nextdoor Neighborhood Vitality Advisory Board member. "This training is designed to equip moderators with the skills and sensitivity needed to navigate complex social interactions. Not only did Nextdoor offer the training, they took the (often neglected) next step: allowing researchers to rigorously evaluate its effectiveness.”

Key findings from Nextdoor’s 2023 Transparency Report include:

• Consistently low levels of harmful content: Reports of harmful content make up less than half a percent (0.29%) of all content on Nextdoor.
• Product innovations to promote constructive conversations: A small group of neighbors, less than half a percent, produce almost 60% of removed content, mainly in comments, yet they also contribute positively with many unreported posts. Nextdoor launched “Kindness Tips” to serve as a supportive tool to remind neighbors who have had content previously removed about best practices for fostering constructive conversations.
• A growing and successful, community-based approach to moderation: Nearly 200,000 volunteer community moderators on Nextdoor reviewed 90% of reported content and did so efficiently, with a median removal time of 5.3 hours. This rapid response is pivotal in maintaining the health and safety of Nextdoor’s online neighborhood.
• The positive impacts of blending humanity and technology: The integration of generative AI into our Kindness Reminder has been transformative. In 2023, 36% of neighbors prompted by either the AI or traditional Kindness Reminder chose to revise or withhold their messages. 26% of neighbors who encountered our generative AI-revised text adopted the suggestion and published more constructive content. Overall, exposure to the Kindness Reminder and AI Kindness Reminder reduced the creation of content that violated the Community Guidelines by 15%. Only 0.16% of neighbors provided feedback on the AI Kindness Reminder, indicating high satisfaction.

To read the full transparency report, visit LINK.

About Nextdoor

Nextdoor (NYSE: KIND) is the neighborhood network. Neighbors, businesses of all sizes, and public agencies in more than 315,000 neighborhoods across 11 countries turn to Nextdoor to connect to the neighborhoods that matter to them so that they can thrive. As a purpose-driven company, Nextdoor leverages innovative technology to cultivate a kinder world where everyone has a neighborhood they can rely on — both online and in the real world. Download the app or join the neighborhood at nextdoor.com. For more information and assets, visit nextdoor.com/newsroom.

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