DeHood gives users a way to communicate with neighbors and friends. The application focuses on users living within the same community. Users can post local information, such as community events, traffic issues, crimes and anything else that might interest other locals. Users can also start their own events or get togethers and share them using DeHood. Along with a website, DeHood is available for iPhones, iPads and as a Facebook application. The site gives users a number of categories to work with, including crime reports, real estate, job posts, upcoming events, schools nearby and local news. People, places and shopping locations are also available so users can quickly find what they are looking for. Users can follow one another and add the people they know as friends on their DeHood profile.

Visit www.dehood.com

DeHood was founded in May of 2009 by Michael Mertz, David Kierzkowski and Babak Hedayati. The website was developed to provide users with a safe, easy way to stay in touch with their neighbors without relinquishing their privacy. The user community suffers from the same problem many other location-based applications face: a lack of coverage (especially in medium to small sizes communities). DeHood fairs better than some because there are a number of lesser known communities covered, however users will still be hard pressed to find people and places in their exact area in most cases.

DeHood isn’t different from any other location-based application like it. As with most apps, the user can post updates and information, create friends lists and be followed (on their profile, not in real life of course). The main appeal to some users might be the flexibility offered by DeHood’s diverse collection of posting options. Anything from businesses to people and events or incidents can be posted so the community is aware of them.

DeHood invites users with an upbeat city silhouette in blue and green that includes rows of houses similar to any suburb. This is notable because it seems to speak for the application’s community, which includes both highly populated and lesser known areas. A new user will feel right at home as they explore shopping, places or people. The site includes enough eye candy to entice but not so much that it becomes graphic overload.

New users can click the yellow button near the center of the DeHood homepage to begin the registration process. A pop up box will appear and ask the user to provide their full name, email address, username, password and gender. After submitting the completed form, the user is automatically logged in and can begin inviting friends from their MSN, AOL, Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo contact lists. This step can be skipped if the user is not ready to add friends.

DeHood is available for free, which is its best option. This type of application has a dire need for user participation. Without the users, there would be no content to entice other users to sign up (as well as no opportunity for interaction). The application provides a decent feature list, which makes it a good value for the cost-free price that accompanies it. All users are given access to all current features.

DeHood is ideal for anyone who lives within one of its more populated communities. The application will be more attractive to those who use Facebook, iPads or iPhones frequently. Users can check in and make reports or see what has already been reported so they are prepared when they leave home or work. Users can also visit DeHood to find entertaining events, opportunities or to get to know their fellow community members.

• Users can add friends or be followed by other users online
• Reports alert users to traffic incidents, events, crimes and unexpected issues
• Photos of community events and locations can be uploaded to user profiles
• City Beat provides users with an overview of recent activity
• iPhone, iPad and Facebook versions are available for free

Visit www.dehood.com

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