An Introduction to OurPangea Part 4 of 4

How Can OurPangea Impact Your Life?

More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness…do not despair… you the people have the power to create happiness, to make this life a wonderful adventure.  Let us use that power to unite.  Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and age a security.

–The Great Dictator, 1940

While OurPangea might have begun for all of us as blind ambition and a desire to make the way we use the Internet better, it has changed into something more significant for myself, Noah, Rick, and our entire team.

In an environment where the idea of a Facebook collapse sounds more than hypothetical and we seem to be closing in on the next great iteration of online change, this might sound counter-intuitive:  OurPangea is not about Facebook.  It is not about Google+, Pinterest or online advertising.  OurPangea is not even only about online networking.  It’s about using the tools we have to improve the world.

OurPangea is about bringing everyone together in one place where we can comfortably and easily share our unique opinions, perspectives and ideas and see how that influences our communities.  It’s about facilitating introductions for powerful collaboration.

I can understand if everything we’ve written sounds naïve and deluded. But this is something I have come to personally believe in strongly and if you’ve met me I hope you agree.   From a more personal perspective, moving around so often isn’t easy.  It’s hard to establish an identify in a new place and even harder when you’re couch-surfing without a home base. There are many times I thought to myself how much easier it would all be if I had a place like OurPangea to understand the people and environment around me without having to literally walk around the city.  It would have made meeting people, finding activities to get involved in, and staying connected to my friends back home quick and painless.

One of the most inspiring speeches I have ever heard was delivered in The Great Dictator.  It inspired me to realize that our dream of unity is not a new one. 70 years ago there were people who believed it.  We are still striving to realize it, and now we have the Internet to focus that dream.  We finally have this great and powerful machine that we can build OurPangea on to create an environment where we can all collaborate and discover why we are important to each other, we finally have the power to realize this dream.

For us it’s no longer a company mission constrained to a company, it is a personal mission.  And we believe in all of us together.

Our Generation has been called the Generation of “me.” A little contradictory, isn’t it?

Throughout the last decade, the rise of social media has contributed to and helped perpetuate the rise of what some have called the “Generation of Me.” In addition to the instantaneous sharing of information and entertainment, social networks have helped users organize their social lives and stay in touch with even the most fleeting acquaintances.

This isn’t a bad thing at all. In so many ways, social media and the Internet have made the world a more entertaining, more connected and more satisfying world than it’s ever been before. However, the growth of the Internet and its potential to do great things shouldn’t have to stop there and neither does our collective potential to do more with this amazing tool.

The Generation of “Me” is well on its way to becoming the Generation of “Us.” The Internet and the tools it provides are like so many other of the mind-blowing technological revolutions we’ve seen throughout the course of history because they are organic and constantly evolving. No one person can steer the Internet in exactly the direction they want it to go. Instead, everyone who uses the internet and pushes its limits will determine this great innovation’s final destination, whatever that destination may be. The Internet belongs to us, is used by us and will continue to be shaped by us.

The distinction between “mine” and “ours” can say a lot about anything they are applied to. If this is “my” house, then you are a guest and you have no say in how I decorate it, take care of it or whether or not I leave the toilet seat up. If this is “our” house, then we share it. Everything I do in that house will have an impact on you and everything you do will affect me. In a house that is “ours” most decisions will be (or should be) made collectively. When we make collective decisions about “our” house, we are forced to think about it in a different way than we would have if it was only “mine” or “yours.” The same holds true for the Internet. Yes, I have my social network and you have yours, but there really isn’t a place that is specifically ours to be shared.

When people share, many have a tendency to be more considerate, thoughtful and empathetic. When we share ideas, it can take us to places we never would have discovered if we’d been working on our own. When we share knowledge we can help others discover untapped talents and interests that can change their lives and they can do the same for us. When we share a cause and stand together we are far more formidable than when we stand alone and that’s what the Internet is going to be all about.

There is and will always be a place for “mine” and “ours.” I’m not talking about Internet communism where everyone shares and nobody gets enough. What I’m talking about is a new age of the Internet and a Generation of “Us” where we shape the world together, where we can help each other discover things about ourselves we never knew before and where we can ultimately take the next step as a people.

The potential of an individual can be immense, but the collective potential of a people who understand the utility of collaboration is unlimited. We need a tool that is built to fulfill such ideals.

The Power of a Community Network

One of the most common responses we come across when trying to introduce someone to OurPangea.com is the confusion and automatic association with current social networks.  There’s always the inevitable, “Oh, so it’s like [insert social network here].”  In truth, there are a lot of similarities between social networking and Community Networking, but they are not one and the same.  Community Networking is the next step of online networks – taking the proven tools and structure of social networks and combining that with additional networking models, optimizing it for community use.

OurPangea replicates the complex structure of our real-life relationships and therefore lets you interact with your group in a more true-to-life way.  The Community Network not only gives you, the individual user, the ability to define yourself online and connect with other users, it gives this ability to entire communities as well. However – and this distinction is important – it’s not about segmenting the different circles in your network, it‘s about defining the different networks you have, finding where they overlap, and discovering new people and things you’ll love. It creates a living snapshot of our collective cultures to create a window for cross-community transparency, understanding, and collaboration.

When you become a member of OurPangea, you’ll be associated with your location based on the zip code or city you enter on registration.  From there you can find all the various communities, groups, and activities that are around you.  For example, if you’re looking to volunteer in a shelter but don’t have the time to scour the entire Internet to find all of the opportunities in the community, OurPangea makes it easy to find out about all the different groups you can join that are nearby – or in a different location if that is what you want.  If what you’re looking for isn’t on OurPangea, go ahead and create a new group!

So how are groups and communities different from other sites?  OurPangea is specifically designed for communities and groups.  What we mean by this is the quality of on-site engagement and value gained from OurPangea doesn’t decline after you leave the individual-user level. Group tools aren’t a band-aid meant to complement the individuals using the site, this is an effective and dedicated tool that makes group the focus and promotes strong collaboration to improve your group and community experience for yourself and all members.

Within your groups you can do more than just send mass-messages and create events; you can also create projects, assign tasks, and send custom communication to specific group segments – even giving you the ability to hold elections online for a seamless transfer of leadership.

OurPangea is grounded in the notion that we are all visionaries, and together there is no limit to what we can do.  Come together with the rest of your community and see what’s possible.

OurPangea Will Unite Us.

This is our master plan. This is what we think is possible. This is what we’re working towards. And this is how we plan to do it.

When I tell people I am going to unite the world I am usually met with an appropriate level of shock. And for those who take a second to listen, I hope I inspire confidence that this is possible and I am the one to do it.

Uniting the world is an ambitious goal, and one I doubt will be fully realized during my lifetime. Regardless, I’m aiming to make sure the beginning is.

The technology is there; we’re just missing the imagination. Despite having the technology to make this possible, without an idea or the drive to unite people, it hardly matters. Step one is defining the situation. Step two is building the tool to help us move in the right direction.

When we look back at our collective histories, one theme has remained constant: the interaction between cultures. To a certain degree this has played out poorly in the form of warfare and annihilation. On the other hand, some of humanity’s greatest successes have come through the cross-cultural exchange of goods and ideas. This planet is just too small to keep fighting over. Just over the horizon there are much bigger things waiting for humanity, but we need to get our world in order before we move forward.

When we look at our current situation we’ll see that we’re still a collection of vastly different cultures and that’s fine; the differences are what make humanity so strong. Cross-cultural exchange is best when there is diversity – it’s something we should encourage. We need lots of ideas and perspectives to push us forward, as a lack would only confine us – we want options.

For OurPangea the mission is simple: collect, interact with, and share culture. We want to catalog and give everyone access to them so they can explore the other cultures around the world, not just the one thrust upon them. Access to other people and other ideas should be encouraged. This is the first step in uniting the world, giving people the full view of it.

It’s crazy, but even now, even with your local community, even with your family there is no way to see the full picture. There is no tool, no technology, no anything that lets us do that. The fact I cannot easily look at what my friends and family, let alone my community is doing really is crazy.

We must provide people with a lens to see the whole world, not just a part of it. We need to see the whole picture, not just what we want to see, because the fact is, for all the prosperity in the world, there is also suffering. It’s comfortable to remain blind to it, but it’s also not right. This isn’t saying you have to search out all of the suffering, and your situation might be different, what’s important is that you should be able to. It’s only fair when we see the full picture: the prosperity, the pain, and all the rest. The same goes for culture, some things we’ll like, some things we won’t, but what’s important is that we can see all of human culture.

The beginning is something that will happen in my lifetime. The beginning is being able to see what the world is like, not just the small area we live in, but the whole damn thing.

I’ll build the tool to make this possible, but I need your help. I need you to support the belief that a world connected is better than a world apart. And I need you to keep on doing what you’re already doing. I’ll build the tool so you don’t have to change your habits, you won’t have to explore what you don’t want. All you need to do is be here. You’ll still have to talk to your friends, love your family, and be a member of your community. Do it from your room, do it as you attend the events other people are hosting, do it by living. It’s easy, just live. All my tool can do is show you, and everyone else that you are a part of our world, and that you are a unique, brilliant, and important piece in the great mystery of life.

So I will build this tool, that’s my part. For you, all you need to do is support the belief that we are all on this planet together, and that you are an important part of it all.

Show us by working alongside us. Show us by being a part of OurPangea.

I’ll do my part, will you do yours?