As social contact has gone from smoke signal to stage coach, from telegram to telephone and now from email to social network, the ability to stay in touch and share information has become exponentially efficient. With nearly 1/16th of the World’s Population signed up to a single social network, and third-world revolutions being organized through a single notification system, it would be unimaginable to go back. The Internet has become a standard technology to our current, and emerging, civilization. Without naming names (let’s just call them the “Yellow Pages” and the “Emergency Broadcasting System”) the current front-runners in the social network scene have, outside of their use in overthrowing authoritarian governments and looking up old friends from high-school, become as much of a distraction as commercial television. Instead of gathering like-minded folks, they gather everyone into a generic culture. Thoughts are lost in sea of links and likes, groups do little but show numbers, and the individual is subjected to a hyper form of superficiality and narcissism. This is not to say these social networks do not have their uses, but substantially those uses are limited.
So, instead of moving back, let’s move forward. There are already a number of alternative social networks that bring together like-minded people to focus on a specific cause or movement. The people that sign up for these social networks do so for a purpose, not just to fit in, but to fit together. In addition, instead of further stuffing the pockets of billionaires, these alternative social networks are either ran not-for-profit or to the profit of aspiring entrepreneurs; businessmen and women that support the communities that you support.
These networks also let the user side-step the monotony of ego driven posts and rants and go directly to the information and ideas they seek to find. The people on here are exactly the people you want to talk to. Your friends might not all be on here, but your friends are best reached by personal contact anyway, the point of the social network is to broaden your reach to the rest of the world, and the point of the alternative social network is to make sure those you reach out to are open to what you have to say. In the marketing world they call it “pre-qualified leads.” No need for selling or debating, no time spent convincing the other party, these parties are already convinced, and you know this because they are already on the social network that is focused on your cause.
The following are a sample of Alternative Social Networks that are currently connecting activists, experts, and aficionados in search of the same:
The Worldwide Permaculture Network
Brought to you by the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia, this social network connects a world of urban gardeners, sustainable farmers, and Permaculture enthusiasts. The potential of Permaculture is to create a world of abundant food production. Deserts can be terraformed, communities fed and hunger rid for good.
Related Article: Farmers Develop Agricultural Method to Rid World’s Water, Food and Energy Problems
Alt-Market
Do you like to barter? Interested in alternative currencies? Want to talk about Gold and Silver? Alt-Market is a free-for-all of free thinking traders and economists. Connect with others in your community. Start a barter group. Form relationships with vendors that accept precious metals for goods and services. It’s up to you. Alt-Market does not officially help you make trades or monetary transactions, but it helps you socialize with other people around the world and allows you to take it from their on your own. Whether you just want to communicate and actually meet, if you are into alternative forms of trade and barter Alt-Market is your place on the Internet.
Related Article: Utah House Passes Gold Tender Bill; Georgia Attempts to Move Similar Ahead
Meetup
A network focused on forming meet-up groups to bring associated minds together in real life. The variety of meet-up groups is huge, ranging from political, social, relationships, sports, cooking, gaming and anything you can think of that may bring people together.
Gameful
A forum of game developers dedicated to use their talents for the good of the world and the progress of mankind. Gameful is the brain-child of game developer Jane McGonigal. Join or Start a group, share ideas, brainstorm with other developers, or promote your own game. Games in general are a powerful tool to bring together communities, teach skills, share knowledge, and inspire health and cognitive association. Join the community and game on!
Related Article: Download “IRL-RPG: Player’s Guide” for FREE!
RTR
“Restore The Republic” is a political social network inspired by the Ron Paul “R3VOLution.” Those who wish to connect with other liberty minded citizens can do so in the same fashion as they would on the “Yellow Pages” of the Internet. I actually haven’t signed up to this network yet, so I can’t verify the content or user base, but if you are interested in socializing with libertarians and constitutional conservatives, this is probably a good place for you to start.
Related Article: Yes He Can: Ron Paul Tied 50/50 With President Obama in Recent Poll
barspace.tv
Sign on to watch video feed from your local bars to see how the scene is poppin’ before heading down. Find out about events and music for the evening and connect with friends. Still in the Beta phase, barspace.tv has the potential to bring musicians and bar patrons together in a unique and focused way.
Related Page: The Cocktail Creations of Jack Wagner
CouchSurfing
A network of travels offering couches, floors and places to stay for free. I have made great use out of this website and plan on making some more use out of it soon. Great place to meet fellow travels, find a roof for a night or two, or offer lodging to a fellow human being far from their home. Help keep your travel costs down, meet some interesting people and navigate of the beaten path. No one will call you a tourist as you surf the couches of the world.
* Social Forums *
In addition to alternative social networks, the Internet is filled with forums focused on specific causes and communities. Sometimes these forums resemble a social network in the way the bring people together. They usually lack the “profile page” that typically makes a social network a social network. The two forums I’d recommend to readers of this website would be the two political forums I spend some time on; The Daily Paul and Green Party Watch.
Related Article: How The Green Party Can Win the Tucson Mayor Race and Prepare for 2012
* Flattr *
Flattr is a network dedicated to bring content creators and content consumers together. Creators can share their content for free, and consumers can check out the content and decide whether or not to “flattr” it with a click, thus diverting funds from their account to the account of the creator. Flattr is not as much of a social network as the other sites listed in the article, but it is a great tool for sharing and funding independent media on the Internet. You can find written content, music, video, art, photos, software and even charities.
Related Article: Givv, Flattr and Kiva: The Micro-Activist Trifecta
Let me just say, that once I stopped using the generic “Yellow Pages” of the Internet to share the content I was creating on this website, I saw my traffic increase dramatically. This is because I stopped spending any of my precious free time writing on someone else’s website and dedicating all the limited free time I had creating content for my website. Then, once I began sharing my content on social networks that were dedicated to the ideas I was writing about, my traffic grew even faster. Despite not having an actual account on “The Social Network” I notice that many of my article find their way on there.
Most of the alternative social network I mentioned are still very new and have a limited user base. Many will potentially evolve, but in the time being you should be prepared not to have a billion dollar presentation. This is a grassroots effort. These sites are built by activists and aspiring entrepreneurs. The owners will not only benefit much more from your support than the mainstream websites, but they will appreciate and acknowledge much more as well. Connect with your cause and help build a movement!
Thumbnail Image: By woodley wonderworks ((semi) free range chickens) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Jack Wagner is the Editor of The Free Independent-Sun. Born in Sonoma, California and currently residing in San Francisco, Jack set up The Free Independent-Sun on July 4th, 2009, after sleeping in and not making his usual trip up north for his hometown festivities. He figured he'd do something revolutionary to make up for it. In the Summer of 2010 Jack registered Seraf Media with the City and County of San Francisco as a Sole-Proprietorship. He is dedicated to articulating the finer points of the Revolution in order to bring about a Global Renaissance and Abundant World Economy. He also isn't afraid to get his hands dirty transplanting succulents. 
