Why I love Active Rain: The Social Media Platform for Real Estate...

Why I love Active Rain: The Social Media Platform for anything Real Estate Related…

Those of you who read my posts consistently know, that when I joined Active Rain in 2008 my primary objective was to get additional business. I have written about this previously. Naively I thought it would be raining referrals on Active Rain.  In all fairness I did get a few referrals, interestingly one of the more tangible benefits, that came from it was, I learned how to Blog.

I have also found my voice on this platform, hence on the Internet, this in turn translated that I received many clients not just locally, but from all over the Globe. They found me on the World Wide Web, thanks to my blogs about land, life in Los Angeles, life in Beverly Hills and Malibu. Those with whom I connected, many mentioned how they loved reading my writing about food, wine, books and pets.

 In addition, something I did not anticipate, I ended up making many friends with other members. They were all active on this platform. Most are likeminded in business or in family life, they know who they are, I do not need to name them. Some I have talked on the phone others I met face to face, or had coffee, or lunch or dinner with. Interestingly this was not my intent, it was unplanned, but one of the most valuable benefits of being on this platform.

 

Not wanting to digress from the real reason why I am grateful for being on this platform. We have the Community Guidelines, that pretty much almost everyone follows and we self-police the community, because there is no one actively working as a “community manager”, at least I am not aware of.

Now to my point: I have been on the “Nextdoor” Platform for about four plus years. Just as an FYI, I have never called it “Nextdoor” instead, I nicknamed it “The neighborhood rag”. Yes, the platform has Community Guidelines as well. The difference is Day & Night compared to Active Rain.

The purpose of this seven-year-old start up in my opinion was basically a spin off idea from Facebook and to make it hyper local i.e.:  where neighbors can connect with their own neighbors, find friends. Then it evolved into finding the best contractors for their needs. It helped in looking for and find lost pets. In other words, build a stronger and safer local community with the help of technology. It was heading in the right direction, but somewhere along the way the platform morphed into something else.

What I might call it, or should I say it became “The Un- Neighborly Platform” some have call it “The Jerks Next-door”. People complaining about traffic, people complaining about the politicians, about their fellow neighbors and the list goes on and on. It is full of negativity from early morning to late at night. The vicious behavior is only matched on Facebook.

In my opinion, Social Media has allowed to give voice to people who should not have a voice. Many choose to be vicious, because it is easy to be behind the keyboard of their laptop, iPad or their smart phones. I am confident that face to face they would not dare to be as mean and vicious as from the comfort of their home. Nastiness, grumpiness, and negativity is tolerated, and people have lost their civility and their civil boundaries.

So, with that said, this is the reason I am so grateful for Active Rain, because this platform for better or worse is one of the best platforms, where mostly civility rules. Yes, many of you know, that I have spoken harshly about the various owners and leaders of Active Rain over the past ten years, the intention was to bring attention to an issue, a problem or a person. This I would have been willing to say to the leadership face to face, over the phone and directly. Some engaged with me others just avoided me. Never the less my motives were pure, to improve this platform. I am still here because overall this is still one of the best platforms compared to all the others. At the same time, I am grateful for all the friendships and the business that came my way because of this platform.

This post was inspired by the nastiness I read today on Nextdoor in my zipcode.

If you are looking for a focused and goal-oriented Realtor in the Beverly Hills area who will help you achieve your Real Estate goals, please reach out to me directly!

If you are looking for a pet friendly Beverly Hills Realtor who can handle and sell the most difficult properties that no one else could, please reach out to me directly!! If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu, feel free to contact me at 310.486.1002 (m) or homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com  I contribute a portion of my commission to local animal rescue organizations.