Neighbourly Skyrockets to 750,000 Members

The Kiwi-made community website, Neighbourly has welcomed its 750,000th member in less than five years.

Debuting in a handful of Auckland suburbs in 2014, the Stuff-owned site is now a well recognised name. Nielsen online ratings show Neighbourly is also New Zealand’s second largest online member community, behind Facebook.

Stuff Chief Executive Sinead Boucher says the achievement recognises the value its members place in local connections and knowledge.

“Hitting three quarters of a million members in just a few years is remarkable - especially considering similar sites have popped up overseas without enjoying the uptake we’ve had here. It really proves how community-minded Kiwis are.”

Boucher says the Christchurch mosque attacks in March showed how much New Zealanders were prepared to come together to support one another.

“Neighbourly was a place people could turn to and process what happened. Noticeboards were filled with members showing their support, expressing their grief and coordinating events to fundraise for the victims,” she says.

“In fact, we consistently see acts of kindness on Neighbourly. That’s a real point of difference between us and many other member communities. It encourages neighbours to connect and support one another every day.”

The site has continued to grow steadily, adding an average of 10,000 new members each month.

“While we have evolved, local still remains the core of who we are,” Boucher says.

“Neighbourly will always be a home for conversations which celebrate our communities.”

ENDS

NEIGHBOURLY BY NUMBERS:
• Second-largest online member community in New Zealand.
• More than 750,000 Neighbourly members.
• More than 27,000 local businesses use the website to reach their customers, and more than 3000 community organisations to spread their messages.
• 900 ‘Neighbourly Leads’. These are volunteers and regular users of the website who look after the neighbourhoods they are based in.
• 3744 posts featuring the word chicken. Neighbourly estimates most of these would be lost and/or found chickens.
• More than 23,907,596 welcome messages sent to new neighbours.

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