From lost pets to advertising for small local businesses, the Nixa Neighbors Facebook group will most likely address it. 

   Parent Stephanie Cogswell said Nixa Neighbors is a good platform for people in the community.

   “Nixa Neighbors is a great way for the community and for parents and nonparents of Nixa to stay connected on social media,” Cogswell said.

   Brylee Welch, a sophomore at Nixa High School, said Nixa Neighbors can be a useful source of local information and news.

   “If you have questions or concerns about Nixa and what is going on, you can put it on the table to get information,” Welch said. “You can ask or you can address things on there. … My mom is a part of [Nixa Neighbors] and it gives her information … but overall it addresses things about our community.” 

   While many people join Nixa Neighbors for various reasons, junior Curtis Glossip joined for the entertainment value.

   “I joined because there was a lot of funny stuff going around, like the videos of people getting mad,” Glossip said.

   Though Glossip is on Nixa Neighbors for what he deems as funny content, he said the page’s purpose is to be a great local community.

   “The main idea of [Nixa Neighbors] is to bring everyone together as a community and communicate with the whole town online,” Glossip said.

   Alternatively, Welch joined the group due to rumors and comments about the Nixa Dance team during their 2024 season.

   “The Nixa dance team had a very big outburst in the group about a dance that we did during football season,” Welch said. “So I joined it to see the comments about it. It was about … a dance that we did, and someone thought it said, shake your A-word, and so I joined it … to see what people were saying, the bad and the positive because there [was] a mix-up.”

   Nixa Neighbors also provides a platform for small businesses to promote themselves.

   “[Nixa Neighbors is] a lot of stuff about small businesses and people just trying to get themselves out there,” Glossip said.

   On a Facebook page with 15.2 thousand people, complaints and rumors can spread quickly.

   “People will just kind of say what they think and it will start an argument that doesn’t need to happen,” Welch said. “Some people just voice their opinion on there and everyone’s opinion matters, but some things we need to keep to ourselves and some people don’t understand that.  … You post that [on Nixa Neighbors] and anyone… can see it without even being a member of [the group]. So everyone that wants to see it can see it, and you’re spreading negative feedback and negative thoughts to other people. [Nixa Neighbors] was not made to be in a negative perspective, but it can be used to be negative.”

   Despite the negative potential of Nixa Neighbors, Cogswell wishes for it to be a better-known platform because it is a positive platform for information.

   “I think [Nixa Neighbors] should be encouraged for new parents that are in Nixa and people that just moved to Nixa,” Cogswell said. “So they know that there’s a way that the community stays together and has a positive outreach.”