My Thoughts on Knoowsy ​

I thought Knoowsy was a very ingenious app. I, like many others, live in a suburb. However, one thing I didn't like even as a child was the fact that there was no neighborhood organization, mostly because I wanted to meet the other kids in my neighborhood. However, even I was curious about my neighborhood's developments. I remember walking by a project and always wondering what they were working on in that sandpit. A house? A pool? Something like Knoowsy would have even interested me as a child in a neighborhood, let alone adults.

Knoowsy solves this issue by connecting the residents within a certain neighborhood on a shared platform where neighbors can post information they heard about neighborhood developments. I believe Knoowsy's goal is in increasing neighborhood action. Neighbor action is defined in CommunityToolBox by stating "We use the phrase "promoting neighborhood action" very broadly, defining it to include just about any activity that brings neighbors in contact with one another, or helps them appreciate their neighborhood more... Often, such activity means neighbors working together for a common goal. That is, neighbors joining to clean up a vacant lot, or to get a crosswalk painted, or to oppose the construction of a new mega-store are clear instances of neighborhood action."

Why Neighbor Action is Good ​

Neighborhood action involves exerting influence on decision makers (local officials, traffic controllers, private developers, police) to act in the neighbors' behalf. If the decision makers are public officials, they are more likely to respond to the collective voice of many constituents -- for they are accountable to those constituents, directly or indirectly. Even if the decision makers are private citizens, resisting the neighborhood's wishes may not be in their economic, social, or political self-interest.