Online neighborhood social networks (ONSNs) represent an emerging phenomenon among a growing number of niche social networks. These platforms afford users the ability to engage in activities such social interaction with neighbors, sharing of information on local issues or neighborhood volunteering and exhibit promising effects, including improved relationships between neighbors and an increase in neighborly communication. Despite the mounting popularity of platforms such as Nextdoor or nebenan, extant research on ONSNs remains scarce. In this paper, we aim to alleviate this research gap by developing a conceptually and empirically validated taxonomy of ONSNs with a particular focus on their differentiating design properties. We further leverage this taxonomy to derive four distinct archetypes of ONSNs based on a cluster analysis. With our research we provide a first and structured overview on the domain of ONSNs and support researchers and practitioners in analyzing, designing and selecting ONSNs.

Smart cities and communities aim for social wellbeing. Mobilizing and integrating various institutions, actors, and resources are crucial when building and instantiating smart community initiatives. The design of such an arrangement is a complex phenomenon, difficult to conduct systematically and to observe empirically. We address this challenge by applying a multilevel design framework for service systems to an ongoing design science research project. The research project pursues the goal of building a neighborhood community as an instantiation of smart communities by activating and leveraging local institutions, actors, and resources on an IT-enabled engagement platform. We demonstrate how this multilevel perspective informs the design process for building smart communities. Based on micro-level observations, the interdependence of engagement-stimulating mechanisms related to the platform's design at the meso-level, and design implications for the institutional arrangement at the macro-level are emphasized as inseparable design activities for mobilizing and integrating actors and resources.

Far-reaching digitalization affords significantly more opportunities for engaging actors and mobilizing resources in service systems. By leveraging these capabilities, digitally enabled service systems can facilitate user-generated services. Traditional service engineering approaches provide for such service systems. This paper presents and discusses the evaluation of a field-based design science research project for designing an engagement platform that facilitates the co-creation of user-generated services. This study reports contributions to the design knowledge of such an engagement platform and their consequences for engagement activities. Based on the evaluation, we propose design propositions for such an engagement platform from a sociotechnical perspective.

Public health measures are curtailing the COVID-19 pandemic's spread but also impact individual and societal well-being. Altogether, they test the social resilience of communities, their collective ability to cope with crises. The pandemic highlights the significance of the immediate local community or neighborhood, be it for providing assistance to individuals in need, the sensible sharing of public spaces or a renewed conscience for supporting local businesses. We argue that online neighborhood social networks (ONSNs) represent a viable solution for improving social resilience as they enhance a community's resistance to disruptions, quicken recovery to a normal level of functioning and can become a platform for creative solutions to strengthening social resilience. We conduct a multiple case study to demonstrate how ONSNs foster social resilience in the focal crisis and beyond. Furthermore, we identify design dilemmas and highlight avenues for IS research with a high impact on local communities and their well-being.

Online social networks (OSNs) have demonstrated potential for enabling older adults to remain socially connected and for counteracting social isolation and loneliness. With older adults preferring to age in place, their local community and neighborhood gain in importance. Online neighborhood social networks (ONSNs) are a novel type of OSN aimed at connecting local communities by facilitating social interaction, information sharing and peer support among neighbors. With a focus on trust and privacy, local relevance and integration with local organizations and institutions, they might be particularly well suited for the needs of older adults. We investigate the relationship between older adults and ONSNs by analyzing usage data, an online survey and interviews with users of an ONSN active in two urban neighborhoods in Germany. Our findings show that the case ONSN was successful in facilitating communication between neighbors and in promoting participation in community life for older adults.