By Matt Perez
In 2018, my good friend Jose Contreras sent me a text out of the blue. This ended up as rBuddyNeighbor. ∇ 
Since then we have learned quite a bit and here I try to revise it a bit.
Impact | |
---|---|
What for? | Build a strong, face-to-face community of neighbors. |
Purpose | |
Why? | To make it easy for neighbors to meet while doing favors for each other. |
Mission | |
What? When? How? |
The rBuddyNeighbors platform helps put Neighbors physically in front of each other. This way they can bond by doing something for each other. A Neighbor needs something, the Buddy takes care of it, they get to know each other a little better, and they both get to feel good about themselves.
Happy Example |
So far, the Neighbor doesn’t know anything. Once she accepts the request, the system will let Kim know that, Your request for Organic Valley 2% milk has been accepted. We’ll charge $2.70 to your account. Do you still want it?
|
---|---|
Not-so-Happy Example |
|
Either way, the Buddy and the Neighbor get to note their level of satisfaction; and given Transparency, the Buddy and the Neighbor get to see each other’s response, and that is how they learn.
Payment |
|
---|---|
Interventions |
Groups of rBuddyNeighbors can organize to deal with emergency situations in their, ∇  from drug usage interventions to potential suicides. They can register their group with rBuddyNeighbors as a community resource. They’d be alerted when the system detects a pattern that fits their target. |
Reuniting Friends and Family |
Like other networks of people, rBuddyNeighbor could be used to find people you want to reconnect with. Looking for John M. Graduated in 1972 from Schurz HS in Chicago. Last time we were in touch he still lived in Chicago. |
Baby Sitting, Elder Sitting |
This brings up the importance of reputation for members. A recommendation from a well know Neighbor will count for a lot. |
Fun Activities |
|
Vendors Will Know |
We can train retailers to tell people who call in an order that there are two people near you coming to pick up soon. If you put in a rBuddyNeighbors request, maybe one of them will deliver. This means that we need a UI for vendors to see rBuddyNeighbors activity that impacts them,
This could be in the UI for everybody, not just vendors. |
Mom-and-Pops |
During a conversation, Minesh Patel brought up the use case of a local mom-and-pop store who may deliver a request themselves. It could be that they know the requester as a Neighbor or as a regular customer. Or the requestor lives within their back route and the local grocers can easily deliver it on the way home. This would fit within the model. ∇  The Neighbor-owner cannot charge or add a surcharge for the delivery itself. Tips are not allowed, because it is not about making a living, it is about connecting and simply being a Buddy to a Neighbor. This could be gamed if the Neighbor-owner hires one or more people to deliver these requests. This would go against the principle of connecting people IRL. A delivery person would not make the kind of connection we are aiming for between Neighbors. This can easily be detected by the Neighbors and reported to the platform. It would end up in a conversation, probably between the grocer and the Neighbor. Or, if the Neighbor is reticent to do this, then somebody from rBuddyNeighbor would do it. |
Together IRL |
The town of Kamikatsu, Japan, recycles 81% of its waste. You can read read more about it ∇ . The neighbors do the recycling. The collection center mentioned in the articles is another place for Neighbors to have a positive meeting in real life. This is the kind of thing that a neighborhood can organize through rBuddyNeighbors. |
Cooking for Others |
Some people love to cook. Others, like myself, can appreciate a good dish, but that’s it: no cooking. If anybody asks, I’ll say, it’s good. Even the people who like to cook, sometimes feel like not cooking. It’s like harking for a special dish, but you don’t want to make it or don’t know how to cook it. |
Cooking with Others |
You can pick up the food yourself (it’s nearby), or, if you are invited, you can walk over and eat it at the Buddy’s place. The emphasis is on the cooking together. |
Commuting |
This can also work for commuting, either as a one time thing, or on a regular basis. I need to get to San Carlos tomorrow by 10 am. Or, I work in Mountain View, looking for a rBuddyNeighbor to commute with. The response from the system could be three potential rBuddyNeighbors, or other commuters that are open to another rider. It would be commuting with people who live nearby. People that you may even know. People you can have a lasting relationship with. |
International |
Has to work anywhere in the world, and across borders. For example, I can put in a request for Coyotas del Parque in Hermosillo, Mexico. Somebody from my neighborhood who happens to be in Hermosillo, picks up my order and brings it. Since we live nearby, my Buddy let’s me know when I can pick them up at his place. |
Group Invitations (Community Organizing) |
The scenario is like this, I hear that there’s going to be a demonstration outside the office of a local politician. The organizers went to rBuddyNeighbors and announced their event. I ask for the details and the system sends my request to the organizers. They contact me with the details and I go. The system may mention people that you’ve interacted with before who are also going to the demonstration. Group Invitations opens the door to Nazi rallies, or white supremacist groups. Tread carefully. |
Less Desirable Activities |
You just know that people will try to use this for prostitution, distribution of illegal drugs, and other less desirable activities. Regardless of what you think of these things, this would go against the Explicit Alignment ofrBuddyNeighbor. So, we’d probably have to do something about it, although not sure what. Scanning requests will not work after a short while, and people will go crypto on us (e.g., Looking for a one-night-stand. I’ll pay $300” will become Looking for my friend, Mike. I want to return his $300. Maybe we can spot patterns (e.g., the same person always responds to the “Mike requests). When we detect any of this, we could kick the “Mike” character out (and return their membership fees). But that is a use of force. It is not a matter of rules, we already have the Explicit Alignment to guide us. No matter, in the end the members/co-owners need to do something about it. |
We will have to figure out the most friction-less ways to manage payments for the Buddy. On the other hand, what if the Buddy doesn’t show up with the goods? On the other hand, we could reimburse them after the Neighbor gets the goods. In that case, they won't get reimbursed for the goods they didn’t deliver.