This article explains how to handle neighborhood conflicts on nebenan.de: through active counter-speech, using the report function for rule violations, and hiding posts. For escalating conflicts outside the platform, it recommends mediators or the police. For inappropriate comments, you can close, delete, or kindly moderate posts. An interview with expert Christina Kotschubin offers further tips on conflict resolution.
How to Handle a Neighborhood Conflict
Living together with others is not possible without conflicts. It is all the more important to decide how we want to behave in such situations.
If disputes arise in your neighborhood on nebenan.de, you have the following options to deal with them.
Actively intervene
Counter-speech is always worthwhile!
Report function
If you observe behavior on the platform that violates our 3 golden rules or our post and comment guidelines, you can report the respective post or comment to us and we will take care of it. Here you can read how it works.
Hiding
Posts, comments, and neighbors can be hidden and will no longer appear in your overview. Here you can read how it works. Feel free to also inform other neighbors about this option.
If you are confronted with a conflict in your neighborhood that is mainly played out outside of nebenan.de, you can:
- Seek help from mediators in your area
- Inform your local police station if the conflict should escalate
If you are unsure about how to proceed, you can also write to our help team. We will do our best to assist you within our means in finding a solution.
What can I do if the comments under my post are inappropriate?
Some posts attract more attention than others or are highly polarizing. Neighborhood is a community of chance, and it can happen that your neighbors have different opinions on certain topics. This is initially correct and important for an open and tolerant society. You should also behave accordingly and respect others' opinions, even if you do not share them.
If the comments under your post are inappropriate, there are a few things you can do.
- Lock your post for comments: Go to the three dots at the bottom right of your post. Select "Close" from the dropdown menu. After that, the post is still visible to everyone but can no longer be commented on.
- Delete your post: Go to the three dots at the bottom right of your post. Select "Delete" from the dropdown menu.
- Lead the discussion: Sometimes a comment from the author is enough to steer a discussion back in the right direction. Stay friendly and do not let yourself be provoked. You can find tips on this in the article
Our neighbor Christina Kotschubin (expert in conflict resolution) has given a worthwhile interview on the topic.