Some Central Oregonians share local news via Twitter, others Facebook. And many favor Nextdoor, what city of Bend Community Relations Manager Anne Aurand calls “Facebook for neighborhoods.”

The site, which is free for all users — both individuals and government agencies — allows residents of specific parts of Bend to communicate about neighborhood issues through a series of shared “posts.” Individuals can see and share information ranging from public safety alerts to yard sales and can “thank” their neighbors for posts.

The city has used Nextdoor for a little over a year. In that time, membership on the site from Bend residents has climbed from about 700 people to nearly 3,000, Aurand said.

So while the concentration of users throughout the city is low — about 3 percent of residents of the River West neighborhood are members, according to the site — it seems to be catching on. And other local agencies are tuning in.

Both the Bend Police Department and Deschutes County have decided to start using the site. The agencies say it’s another way to reach their constituents and notify them about notable events and issues.

Bend Police Lt. Clint Burleigh, a spokesman for the department, says he signed up for the service soon after the city did and that it’s been a useful way to inform a specific group of people about information useful or relevant to them, such as a water main break or a missing person. Agencies can share information in short posts that are designated “urgent” and sent to individual users through alerts.

“I know it’s going to hit all the different neighborhood associations,” Burleigh said of the urgent notifications.

For example, earlier this month, an at-risk teenager went missing in southeast Bend. Burleigh posted a notice on Nextdoor asking people to call the nonemergency number if they saw someone matching the teen’s description; news spread quickly and the teen was found within hours.

Aurand, who says the service has been useful as roads have undergone repair, can see a map of the city and choose which neighborhoods to share a notification with. For example, during the construction on Reed Market Road, she sent out a notification just to the neighborhoods adjacent to it.

Deschutes County is also starting to use the service, said Whitney Malkin, the county’s public information officer.

Malkin said Nov. 17 the county hopes to use Nextdoor to put out information about public meetings and for emergency management.

And while the county is much bigger than the city, the same localized idea still applies — members of Nextdoor who live in Tumalo or other unincorporated areas, for example, can be notified of information particularly useful to their corner of the county.

— Reporter: 541-383-0376,

cwithycombe@bendbulletin.com