Our neighborhood has a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DelPasoManorNeighborhood as well as an email alert system...all successful because our mailman spreads the word on his route. He lives in the neighborhood, which is a huge help. The mailman can be your biggest asset! He knows everyone and everything that is going on.

This is what we do everyday with "Neighbors Issues Forums" at E-Democracy.org. Want to join us?

In my neighborhood for example, I host a public open network with 800 neighbors or roughly 20% of households for two city defined neighborhoods. We host dozens more in the Twin Cities, but also a few communities in England and New Zealand. Many are in start-up mode where we are support a forum leader in their attempt to get started. (Don't let pretty pictures on Ning sites or the ease of Facebook lull you into thinking tech alone will make this easy.)

Many others create more private spaces for smaller areas. They are sort of like virtual gated communities. But to be honest if the population area covered is less than 1,000 even 2,500 you probably do not want that exchange in Google - while for us openness is a cornerstone for real community building and reaching a critical mass that is not just middle class home owners. Our areas are large enough to be part of broader community life not just electronic block clubs. Our sweet spot is serving areas with between 5,000 and 15,000 people.

OK, here are some slides. If you want some in-depth audio with them, check here. And here are some some links galore.

• The blog post that goes with the slides
• Neighbors Online - PewInternet.org survey and our analysis
• Inclusive Social Media - Neighbors Forum in lower income, high immigrant, highly diverse neighborhood - note our recent diverse community outreach team post
• Locals Online - Where people who host these kinds of things gather (we are a rare non-profit in this space)
• Social Media in Local Public Life Links - Lots of useful links
• More from our blog
• Futureblog post on Digital Inclusion for Community Voices - Draft

There is this great online newtworking site called Meet Up. I signed up for it socially. The groups I've chosen have ended up also helping me professionally. I have, though, requested that at certain events we don't talk shop. Meet Up basically has a group organizer and is in charge of the site. You may make recommendations for meet up ideas. For example, the Sacramento Vegetarian Society is a VERY active group and they've gone birdwatching, have a monthly potluck, are hooked in with the Sacramento Grange Hall and show movies and invite you to book signings. Sunday I went to a Vegan Cooking Demonstration that was put on for free by Mylapore in Folsom. Tomorrow night I'm going to a movie called Dirt that's being shared between that group and the Sacramento Sustainable Living group.

We can communicate online but we also meet in person and I think it's an incredible tool for people to find like-minded souls with whom to communicate and build relationships, and maybe get in a little networking as well.

Of course, there is Facebook which is a great tool. Yes, aside from your personal profile you can create a group or business profile.

Nothing beats LinkedIn forkeeping in touch with your Global Community. It's like Facebook but for professionals but you can join some groups as a hobbiest and learn and share with people from all over the world.

Deb - you may know about this link - a compendium of online tools and resources - , but if not... http://ourblocks.net/resources/#networks

Take care,

Adrian Pyle

This is an amazing list! thanks Adrian.

Here is one I learned about this summer: http://www.neighborwebsjdev.com/

NeighborWeb is run by a group of community leaders, led by a former San Jose Mercury News reporter. So it is a great blend of information on community events as well as City Hall coverage. Because it is considered a credible news source by other media outlets in the Bay Area, positive stories are picked up from NeighborWeb by the mainstream media.

My Beloved colleague Cheryl Honey works tirelessly to bring this method of community self care to the world.

http://www.communityweaving.org/

http://www.goodneighbors.org

Say, noting the UK, examples, definitely check out the Networked Neighbourhoods project and their study.

I agree with much of what they say except that we find the trust-building value of real names trumps the few positives and major negatives from anonymous or alias-based local networks - except potential in high high crime areas where the retribution from online organizing could be severe.

Also check out Harringay Online and the slightly more journalism-centric community sites effort Talk About Local. (IMHO, anything with a blog editor in the center is more journalistic and less many to many.)

Finally, here are our two most active Neighbours Forums in the UK in Bristol and Oxford.

Yes, of course. We have 17 new neighbors forums in the start-up pipeline and therefore are building our training foundation.

For now, check out start a neighbors forum. My key piece of advice is that if you want to build new social capital rather than transfer existing community capacity into an online space is to really really pump the outreach. I just got back from a free produce distribution event where those waiting for the food listen to various invited in community speakers and then get their package. My short invitation was translated into Spanish and my outreach partner was in the English speaking room. The hard reality is that many of these folks don't have Internet access at home, but just down the hall is the digital literacy computer lab. I asked if many in the room used the lab. Most hadn't in this group. After I went to the lab and spoke with lab leader and he suggested teaching people how to join the area neighbors forum as part of their curriculum. Very cool. I should note that this level of outreach has been funded by the Ford Foundation among others, but the lessons are free to share!

What a great topic!I've noticed a lot of excitement abouttools for neighborhood organizing lately. In fact my colleaguesfrom the US and Australiaare creating a matrix to helpneighborhoodslearnabout thetechnologies and how they work to find a good fit for their objectives.My new book: Tools, Techniques and Technologies for Community Weaving has a list (that continues to grow daily!) We spent 5 years developing the Good Neighbors resource pooling web-tool http://www.goodneighbors.net

A special thanks goes out to OurBlocks and e-Democracy for generating the initial list of sites. I invite everyonewho developed/developing these incredible neighborhood networking toolsto collaboratewith me on thisproject. Simply email me at cheryl@communityweaving.org

Leo Romero from Our Blocks has the most comprehesive list I've found date: http://ourblocks.net/resources/#ntech

Meet-Up.com is a great platformfor organizingface-to-face gatherings.

This is such an exciting time watching all these new technologies emerge to empower neighbors to self-organize and help one another. They are making us a more resilient society adaptabletochange.

More sites to add to the list:

• Fix My Street http://www.fixmystreet.com/ Pothole in the road? Flytipping or broken street lights? Just type the postcode and FixMyStreet will send your report to the correct council representative. And its all archived online.
• Good Neighbors Network: Web-based toolto inventoryindividual and community assets and make them easily accessible as well as self-organize community improvement activities. Logs volunteer hours and publishes alphabetized resource directories.
• My Society http://www.mysociety.org/ we develop and run most of the UKs best known democracy websites.
• Pledge Bank http://www.pledgebank.com/faq PledgeBank is a site to help people get things done, especially things that require several people.
• Weave the People Everyone wants to feel listened to, valued and part of something bigger than themselves. At Weave The People our goal is to help you create an engaged, collaborative and more productive team. We do this by asking the right questions, making people visible and celebrating the knowledge in the room or team.
• goodWORKSconnect An online community space and virtual resource center connecting the good work that nonprofits do in east central Illinois.
• Livable Streets Community A place to organize projects in your own town and connect and share with others who are doing the same.
• Meet the Neighbors: Groups near you helps people in your neighborhood get to know each other.
• Neighborhood Fruits: Produce Sharing technology
• Neighborhood Empowerment Network: a coalition of residents, community, faith-based, non-profit and private organizations, academic institutions and government agencies. Our goal is to empower neighborhoods to become cleaner, greener, healthier, and more inclusive places to live and work.
• Neighbors for Neighbors A Boston based volunteer run 501c3, in partnership with the City of Boston, created neighborhood-centric community-generated social networks for Boston Neighborhoods.
• http://sharable.net/tag/diy An online magazine about sharing. We have a large collection of stories about how to share. We have over 80 stories on how to share including stories on how to start a free market, how to share time (time banks), how to share houses, and how to share cars
• Street Bank a website that allows you to see all that your neighbours are giving away or lending.
• The Placemaking Movement A network of Placemakers organized by Project for Public Spaces, enabling discussion, ideas and networking. Use this space to meet fellow Placemakers, throw ideas around, talk about your projects.
• The Sharehood All about sharing resources within your neighbourhood, helps people in meet and make friends with people in your local areas.

other valuable links:

http://exchanges.state.gov/citizens/profs/community_solutions.html Community Solutions by the US Dept. of State

https://www.ourcommonplace.com/about Our Common Place started by Pete Davis, Harvard Government Affairs student.

http://nabewise.com/ : Review of neighborhoods around the country.

http://www.neighborsgathering.com/

http://www.helpothers.org/ Kindness is contagious. Welcome to a portal dedicated to small acts of kindness.

http://www.neighborhoodplanning.org/topics-main.htm Neighborhood Planning

http://www.sarvodayausa.org/story/meet-the-neighbors/ Meet the Neighbors

http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/ Rebuilding Place in Urban Space

http://demo.citizen-dan.org/ Citizen Dan: A Community Instance of the Open Sematic Framework

http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/community-strategies Technologies for the Neighborhood

http://www.communitymatters.org/about CommunityMatters is a commons of individuals and organizations working to steer change, engage citizens and build strong, vibrant communities from the ground up.

http://www.newcommunityvision.coop/ Planting the Seeds for Cooperative Living

Community Connections GIS based asset mapping and some related processes and metrics.

Communities of Shalom Drew University Shalom Initiative - international network of Asset Based Community Development and community organizing trainers, practitioners, and coaches

Communities First Association National network of Asset Based Community Development practitioners, coaches and consultants affiliated with Christian Community Development Association

It's amazing to watch this list grow.

Let's support one another and collaborate wherever possible.There have been many great technologicalinnovations that have fallen by the wayside. I hope we develop aplace where those struggling can find the support they need to sustain their efforts and "mash-up" technologies.

The organization I work fortried doing this in apartment communities and we ran into a lot of resistance. We found that people are so overwhelmed with usernames and passwords already. Our websites whichwas similar to the one you show above (we tried Ning, Webs, an in-house site and several others), just didn't have enough appeal for others to join outside of a core group of 10-20 people. We wanted everyone to connect, so we put our heads together and realized that "everyone" has a Facebook account. So we created groups or pages on Facebook for our apartment neighborhoods and that ended up being exactly what we needed.

I wanted to stay as far away from Facebook as possible when we started looking online for technologies, but every time we turned a corner, Facebook was right there in our face. I know that like Myspace, Facebook will probably also fall to the wayside and something else will take it's place (Google+ maybe???). The key to connecting through technology, in my opinion, is to stay on top of the popular trends. Even if that means changing it up every 5 years or so...which isn't a bad idea when it comes to technology anyway.

Hi Dan -

I'd be interested in hearing what you tried in terms of recruiting people to join, trying to engage them, etc. Do you currently use FB for anything in particular? Can I take a look at your group(s) on FB?

I agree that tech is continually changing - I think one trick is to stay on top of the new stuff, while realizing that sometimes the new is scary and the "old" is comforting to some people. It's a balancing act.

Hey Deb,

In the apartment industry it can be easier to recruit people because we work with the apartment office (leasing office) and we can sometimes have "incentives" to have people join. For instance, one property we worked with raffled off an Ipod to the one resident that had the most friends join the page. Winning something can be a cheap and easy way to add to your page or group.

We use Facebook to invite apartment residents to events, to highlight our Constant Contact newsletters and as a place to share photos of past events. We actually also use a FB Group to communicate between all of our employees to share ideas, post pictures and video and just to rant and rave a bit.

Here's a link to a new FB page setup by one of our folks:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Community-Life-Woodfield-Crossing/223580807676741

Here's a link to a FB page that was setup by the apartment complex that we help contribute to:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/ArborLakesApartments

http://frontporchforum.com/

I do not know if Front Porch Forum is only in Vermont or if it is national, but it is an amazing resource. People join the Forum's based on the neighborhood/community where they liveand subscribe to that particular "forum". Types of "news" that gets circulated include requests for help, things for sale, services offered, community activities, appreciations, community meetings, safety and other alerts, found and lost items/pets/etc.and much more. It is a simple but very effectivecommunity networkingresource.

They do have a link to their software ... https://github.com/FrontPorchForum/open_porch-they have been careful to expand as a business in ways that generate revenue, so I do not know about their plans outside of Vermont.

My biggest concern as a non-profit in this space dedicated to building bridges online for community engagement is the need for _public_ and inclusive spaces online that connect neighbors. So the models that support block level or so connecting need to be complemented with open and public spaces with effective inclusive outreach. Otherwise, we are chopping communities up into selective private virtual gated communities. Great for the neighbors that have vibrant exchanges, but not so great for those on the wrong side of the tracks.

To connect with this neighbor connecting field join up at: http://e-democracy.org/locals

Thanks Debbie for sharing this info - I'll be sure to check it out....

Thanks for the interesting comments about public and private online space. I've been thinking about this and it's a question I'd like to pose to some of the folks who are hosting community sites - what made you decide that the site would be public or private? Who was involved in that decision? etc.

Debbie,

HUMAN RESOURCE CATALOGUE HRC

LaSalle-Gardens Mutual Aid Committee is developing an online web-based Human Resource Catalogue HRC where individuals and businesses can post their goods and services for sale along with pictures, audio etc. The consumer shops on a local neighbourhood based web-site. LaSalle-Gardens has 2600 people living in 808 apartments and 50 townhouses on 40 acres. We have 3 small local businesses involved with us.https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/home/membership

COMMUNITY INVESTMENT & EXCHANGE SYSTEM CIES

When the consumer chooses a product (goods or services) on line, they notify their intent on the website, which contacts the vendor and puts the vendor and consumer in contact. The consumer pays the vendor through the website being debited from their consumer account. The Vendor receives payment minus 7% as a transaction fee as well as is required to invest 8% for voting ratios (shares). Vendors group themselves voluntarily in 'caucuses' of similar vendor providers so as to be able to offer a greater diversity of goods and services as well as provide vendor quality controls.https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/relational-economy/4-community-investment-exchange-system

RATEABLE NON-PROFIT CORPORATION

We are a progressive ownership based non-profit using rateable (recorded) contribution accounting for ratios by Founder, Worker, Supplier and Consumer members each grouped in Associations. One person can have membership in any or all Associations. Accounts are interactive between Associations. Time-based human resource accounting modules measures equivalent values in time, talents, expertise, goods, services and patronage contributions for each member type. Ratios receive market rates of interest, can only be sold back to our non-profit corporation, are voting (one-ratio / one vote) https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/relational-economy/3-sharing-livelihood-constitution

We presently have one software writer working on the development of the software and are looking for other partners who can help support the process. We are integrating this system with available freeware and other softwares widely available. Once developed communities anywhere will set up websites, where interested vendors, consumers, founders and suppliers can display their interests, goods and services, then investment and exchange develops eventually providing local interactions between generations. We expect this software can be successfully implemented in Multihome dwellings as a way of developing in house economies, for businesses to understand founders, worker, supplier and consumer capacities better as well as to launch and increase business in communities where little constructive ecological-economy is happening.

Douglas Jack project coordinator with the Sustainable Development Corporation, 'Indigene' (Latin = 'self-generating') 'Community' (L 'com' = 'together' + 'munus' = 'gift or service') douglasf.jack@gmail.com www.indigenecommunity.info LaSalle-Montreal, Quebec, H8R 1X9

Wow! thanks for sharing this, Steven. I look forward to diving into it...

Hi everyone -

I want to let you all know that there's a Technology & Communities Groupyou might want to check out if you want to diver deeper into this subject. You're welcome to continue posting here also... There's been some great info shared here...