One night in March, a friend called Volente resident Anne Steichen to say he had found a yellow Labrador retriever wandering in the village. The dog jumped into his lap, and the friend had no idea to whom it might belong, Steichen said. She recommended a simple, new solution—he could join the social network Nextdoor and ask about the dog's owner, she said. Within 30 minutes, owner Isabelle Evans had her pet back. On Nextdoor, members can post about garage sales, crime and safety, animal updates, child care requests and recommendations for local companies and services. Anyone—not only HOA presidents or city leaders—can establish new neighborhood Web pages on the site. Unlike other social networks, however, Nextdoor sites are exclusive to people verified as residents of that community. Volente Village Councilman Ken Beck is one community leader behind Nextdoor in Volente. In 2013 Beck heard of the California-based startup and began talks with the company. The firm worked directly with Beck to define the Volente area and begin inviting residents, he said. "We're now up to almost 195 people in Volente [on Nextdoor]," he said. The Village of Volente is a quiet community of about 500 people, and the private social network gives them a place to gather, Beck said. Other area neighborhoods such as Cypress Creek and Reed Park have since joined and set up their own exclusive sites. Many Central Texas neighborhoods have embraced Nextdoor, Nextdoor Communications Coordinator Anne Dreshfield said. At the beginning of April, 52 neighborhood sites were in Volente, Leander and Cedar Park, she said. "Nextdoor neighborhoods are established by the first member of the website," Dreshfield said. "Neighbors themselves each chose to start Nextdoor websites for their communities to connect with their neighbors in order to create stronger and safer places to call home." Members must use their actual names, as they would among neighbors, Beck said. "We don't want anonymous posts anywhere because it's a neighborhood," he said. "It's not the world. It's not the general population. It's just us. So we want to know who it is." Occasionally founding members must address content concerns, Beck said. But so far most Volente members use Nextdoor as a way to share news, garage sale offers and more, he said. Beck said he has also used Nextdoor to promote Volente Village Council meetings and agenda topics. The virtual community can help build Volente's real-life community, he said. "Something like Nextdoor certainly is a vehicle, if used appropriately, to let people know about [things like] a new retail center," he said. "It's got a boundary, and the thing that connects us all is we all live inside that boundary. We're all in effect neighbors caring for each other." Steichen said the site has helped her keep up with her neighbors beyond email and phone calls. "People are not involved in what's going on in the city very much," she said. "They don't want to complicate their lives. So my personal goal was to get people more interested in what's going on because we have a fabulous community."