On March 3, 2015, hyperlocal social network Nextdoor announced that it had raised $110 million in venture capital. The deal valued the company at more than $1 billion—revered, unicorn status. It had to be a giddy moment for CEO Nirav Tolia and co-founders David Wiesen, Prakash Janakiraman, and Sarah Leary. But just three weeks later, all of that celebrating must have seemed like a distant memory.
How Nextdoor Addressed Racial Profiling on Its Platform
Simple tweaks and A/B testing helped the social network recover.
May 11, 2018
Summary.
In 2015, hyper-local social network Nextdoor faced a crisis when reporters realized that users of the site were reporting “suspicious behavior” in their neighborhoods in a racially charged way. Accused of enabling racial profiling, the leadership team had to figure out how to solve the problem. They assembled a team that, using data-collection and an agile approach, tested tweaks to the site. A series of A/B tests showed that the most effective reform was to prompt users who mentioned race when posting to “Crime & Safety” to provide additional information, such as hair, clothing, and shoes. This simple change resulted in a 75% reduction of problematic posts.
New!
HBR Learning
Process Improvement Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Process Improvement. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
How to get things done—better.
Learn More & See All Courses
New!
HBR Learning
Process Improvement Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Process Improvement. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
How to get things done—better.