The public sector is starting to embrace social networking following the success of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. The latest example comes from Neighbo.com which provides a social networking service for residents and managers of social and private housing.

The new networking site brings people together around their homes including tenants, leaseholders and housing managers. It provides housing managers with a platform to achieve their goals. Tenants can become involved in the management of social housing and registered providers of social and private housing can contribute to the environmental, social and economic well-being of the areas in which the housing is situated.

The service brings social networking to a hyper-local level, creating niche communities based on geographic area. It brings back the focus to residential communities and the importance of connecting neighbours around their homes, using online tools to improve their real life offline communities.

The network so far covers 60 private housing blocks across the UK. Mark Postle-Hacon,of PHC Management Ltd, said: “Using Neighbo.com has enabled me to establish a closer relationship with the residents of the properties that I manage. As a managing agent, the residents are at the core of what I do and having a direct and flexible communications channel enables me to effectively take action on their behalf.”