However, before the internet, pettiness and other unpleasantness had a cost. You wouldn't call up an HOA meeting, send a letter or a phone call to everyone every time you see a dude that you think is "suspicious".
The Internet and platforms like Nextdoor not only reduced that cost to near-zero but actually encourage and reward that behavior since they profit off this "engagement". Middle-class paranoid (and sometimes racist) dumbasses with too much time on their hands are the perfect target for a "growth & engagement" company; they're dumb but far from broke and thus a perfect target market for advertisers.