Nonviolent communication is based on empathy, honesty, clear expression, and self-empathy to avoid conflicts among neighbors. Polite language is important, such as making requests instead of demands. Nebenan.de only intervenes in cases of racism, sexism, bullying, extremism, insults, or misleading communication and can block users. In severe cases such as stalking, the police should be contacted.
A fundamental prerequisite for successful communication is empathizing with others and sometimes viewing things from their perspective.
Especially in private human relationships with neighbors, this so-called “nonviolent communication” has great potential to prevent and contain conflicts.
You can apply nonviolent communication by:
- being honest with your counterpart
- expressing yourself clearly
- listening empathetically
- being self-empathic, i.e., also paying attention to your own feelings to properly assess situations.
It is also important to pay attention to word choice. For example, if you have a request for your neighbor, it should be formulated as such and not as a demand. Otherwise, it gives your neighbors the impression that they have an obligation to fulfill and they may respond dismissively.
Ideally, neighbors can resolve their conflicts among themselves or avoid them altogether. As operators of nebenan.de, we nevertheless reserve the right to intervene in conflicts between neighbors, especially in cases of:
- racism and discrimination
- sexism
- bullying
- extremism
- insults
- misleading communication.
We place special emphasis on resolving the conflict but reserve the right to block user accounts in particularly severe cases.
In certain situations, you should also not hesitate to involve the police. Especially in severe cases of discrimination and insults, identity theft, stalking, or similar, you should contact the police.
Information on this can be found on the police website at: https://www.polizei.de/DE/UnsereAufgaben/Deliktsbereiche/Internetkriminalitaet/internetkriminalitaet_node.html
or
https://www.bka.de/Polizei/DE/Einrichtungen/ZAC/zac_node.html
If you feel compelled to file a complaint against one of your neighbors, you can do so online via a form: http://www.online-strafanzeige.de/index.php?kat=home