social networking site for Porcupines

[Friday]

I posted this idea to the NHPorcupines-Discuss list 6 months ago and it went over like a ton of bricks.    Now I've set up a poll; please vote!

I have an idea for a service that I think would be very helpful for current and future Porcupines: a social networking site along the lines of Friendster, Facebook, Tribe, etc. Ways I think this could be useful are as follows:

• could serve as a central clearinghouse of information on liberty activists and/or independent-living types in the state of New Hampshire
• would be searchable, allowing you to find people by geographic location, occupation, marital status, personal interests, ages of children, etc. (all personal info would be optional, not mandatory)
• would have a testimonial system, so that you can check the credibility of people. For example, "Joe answered my call for help moving into my new home". Possibly there would be negative testimonials, for example, "Smitty said he would do such-and-such, then never showed up" (not sure about that one yet). Note that such a system would be quite different from the karma system on this forum.  It probably would NOT be anonymous.
• Admission would be strictly moderated, providing a sense of trust in the network. You wouldn't get in unless you really do live in NH, and are known to at least x others. Possibly users would need to be vouched for prior to being admitted.
• would be free for users

My question is, do others agree that this would be a useful tool for the New Hampshire liberty movement? Are there any glaring negative aspects of this idea that I've overlooked? [Note to Varrin: telling me that the FSP is going to implement this sometime contemporaneous with homo sapiens establishing permanent residency on Jupiter is not a glaring negative in my opinion  ]. I've already thought of the "consolidated source of info for the forces of darkness" downside, and don't see any foolproof way around that. I guess such a service would only be used by those who choose to be "out of the closet" about their liberty leanings.

Thanks for your feedback. Please respond either on this thread or to me privately.   

[Lasse]

It would only be useful if it was strictly moderated. Personally, I don't use any of the social networking sites, myspace, facebook, et cetera. I am registered, though, no name, no info.. For the open source intelligence perks.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Being able to schmooze with Porcs 6 Saturdays a month, assorted Tuesdays, Sundays, a week in the Summer and a weekend in the winter, is about all I can stand of you people, so, the social networking aspects would be limited for me. I could see how it would be a good thing for some folks, though.
The testimonial  part sounds interesting.  Once you say your going to do something, you should do  it and, if you can't it should be for a good reason and you should let
folks know.  Along with personal interaction, business testimonials could be useful too.  Sort of like a Tuath, but, without the secret ceremonies, handshakes and blood sharing
Business thingy will probably be all handymen and web page designers.

Seriously.  We should try to trade with each other whenever possible.  I was raised in a neighborhood with a large percentage of Jews.  Some had been in the city for generations and some came from Europe after wwll.  Some from Germany, some from Eastern Europe, some Orthodox, most not, some not 'Observant' at all.  The only thing I could see that made them a community is that, whenever they could,  they dealt only with each other.  Unlike practically none of their children, my Jewish neighbors were merchants, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, salesmen and factory workers. They shopped at Mrs. Fructman's delicatessen, Mayron's Bakery, Lipman Rambler, Friedman's Leather, Hurvitz's Insurance. They thrived and when they got old many of them sponsored  Russian Jews and, a few Ethiopian Jews and helped them get jobs and start businesses.
It would be great if we had Porc owned groceries, gas stations and some of those other businesses one finds themselves in every day!

[Fragilityh14]

Being able to schmooze with Porcs 6 Saturdays a month, assorted Tuesdays, Sundays, a week in the Summer and a weekend in the winter, is about all I can stand of you people, so, the social networking aspects would be limited for me. I could see how it would be a good thing for some folks, though.
The testimonial  part sounds interesting.  Once you say your going to do something, you should do  it and, if you can't it should be for a good reason and you should let
folks know.  Along with personal interaction, business testimonials could be useful too.  Sort of like a Tuath, but, without the secret ceremonies, handshakes and blood sharing
Business thingy will probably be all handymen and web page designers.

Seriously.  We should try to trade with each other whenever possible.  I was raised in a neighborhood with a large percentage of Jews.  Some had been in the city for generations and some came from Europe after wwll.  Some from Germany, some from Eastern Europe, some Orthodox, most not, some not 'Observant' at all.  The only thing I could see that made them a community is that, whenever they could,  they dealt only with each other.  Unlike practically none of their children, my Jewish neighbors were merchants, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, salesmen and factory workers. They shopped at Mrs. Fructman's delicatessen, Mayron's Bakery, Lipman Rambler, Friedman's Leather, Hurvitz's Insurance. They thrived and when they got old many of them sponsored  Russian Jews and, a few Ethiopian Jews and helped them get jobs and start businesses.
It would be great if we had Porc owned groceries, gas stations and some of those other businesses one finds themselves in every day!

I think about this a lot...

hopefully once I am there I will be able to produce jam, berries, plant starts, flower planters, and eggs to trade with porcupines


anyway, I would be for this because I am across the country and want to have a venue for getting to know porcs specifically.

make it secure though...

[Friday]

Seriously.  We should try to trade with each other whenever possible. 

A big part of the point of a social networking site, in my mind, is to harness the power of computers to make this sort of thing (i.e. preferentially giving business to other Porcupines) possible.  While plenty of people attend Porcupine meetings, move-in parties, and party parties, more don't than do. And just because you recognize someone's face doesn't mean you know they will paint your house, sell you homemade salsa, build you a hardwood floor, homeschool kids the same age as you, provide professional legal services, etc. etc.  Or maybe someone shares a completely unrelated interest in sailing/Japanese manga/baking/etc. , and unless the two of you happen to stumble across that topic by chance, you'll never find that out.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Manga! yummm!

[Russell Kanning]

i like the idea ... i cant help make it happen, but i support u

[error]

I might sign up with fake information.

[Friday]

I might sign up with fake information.

• Admission would be strictly moderated, providing a sense of trust in the network. You wouldn't get in unless you really do live in NH, and are known to at least x others. Possibly users would need to be vouched for prior to being admitted.

Unless you got someone I, personally, know to back up your lie, you might not. 

[dawn]

I think the part about knowing the people involved first is key. Maybe part of the criteria could be by invite only.

[money dollars]

I think that is what got Zack Bass kicked out of the FSP.

The list is still up:
http://nhfree.org/

[TackleTheWorld]

Forces of darkness be danged -the more ways to connect, the better.

I'd like to vote for moderate affirmation.  Can you add "That sounds good" to the choices?

[Friday]

Can you add "That sounds good" to the choices?

Anything for you, Lauren 

[Lex]

I wrote something like this last year and nobody was interested so it just died. I would be willing to start it back up (i hope i can still find the code...) if someone can prove to me that there is a good amount of interest and if someone would be the project/manager/idea-bouncer-off-er cus it's a big project to do alone. I would be in it for the money though, ads and stuff and maybe a 'premium' subscription of some kind. These programs take a lot of effort and time to write well and I need to pay the bills... 

PM me if interested.

Actually, I just remembered, it didn't die only because of no support (although that was part of the reason), I think it died because I couldn't find any ways to make money easily. There are more options available now so I am much more open to the idea of continue to work on this than before.

[Lex]

Some things we could do that other sites don't offer:

- Restrict the website to only SSL connections. This will significantly improve the privacy of the system.
- Make extensive use of PGP. Have a built-in mail client.
- Integrated with error's phone notification service.
- add job listings (this is what the one I did last year provided) and an auction/exchange section, this would be a lot better than the free form one we have on the forum
- etc