The building bulletin board goes virtual with MyCoop
A New York City apartment building is like a big, often dysfunctional family, with some members you interact with regularly and others you suffer because you have to. No matter how large or small the clan, communication is important (these are the people with whom you share a roof and walls!), which is why the free private social network MyCoop makes a lot of sense.
Created by Alex Norman, the networking platform aims to connect all of a building’s residents (yes, even the oddballs), so they can barter, swap services and circulate important updates, as FastCompany reports. Want to get rid of a couch, alert neighbors to a lost item, propose a building update to management or band together during an emergency? The idea behind MyCoop is that you'd get this done in a much more expedient and elegant manner than, say, an old school list-serve, a Google Group or notes slipped under doors, FastCompany points out.
To date, 242 buildings (most in NYC) have signed on. And while there may be concerns about posting personal information in what could be an insecure cloud, Norman promises security is a top priority. To that end, MyCoop verifies individual users’ address with their phone numbers, moderates its boards and allows users to flag content.
After all, even in a tight-knit family, privacy is important.
Related:
Crucial questions to ask your neighbors—before you move in
How to kick a nasty neighbor out of your co-op
Brooklynites are getting a new network of neighborhood blogs
