Meeting new neighbors can be awkward. To avoid the uncomfortable I’ve-seen-you-around-a-million-times-but I-don’t-know-your-name kind of tension, meet your neighbors at Miamiurbanlife!

Miamiurbanlife is a network where sophisticated neighbors connect and share interests in their urban lifestyle. There are more than 50 condos listed to help you do just that. Your condo’s not listed? Don’t sweat it. Just post it here in the forum, and Alex, the Network Creator, will add it to the list! Neighbors can keep each other in the loop by sharing hot upcoming events.

If you’re looking for someone in particular, use the advanced neighbor search to find him out of the 560 neighbors on Miamiurbanlife. Make the world a smaller place by getting to know your neighbors! Getting to know your neighbors can be difficult if they don’t want you to know them. But at Miamiurbanlife, you know everyone’s down to have a good time!

In the past, we’ve looked at nerds and we’ve looked at hip-hop. Nerdcore por vida brings these two seemingly disparate lifestyles together as one.

The forum includes discussions about techniques and favorite podcasts, serving up knowledge like industry insiders. However the nerd shines through when lamenting the loss of a local arcade.

Check out Nerdcore live performances in the videos section. Popular performers include Rocket Propelled Geeks and MC Wreckshin, and MC Router, who are also members of the network. Take a look at what the nerdcore lifestyle consists of; albums, rhyme torrents, live shows, and of course, consumer electronic conferences.

Start repping your nerd crew at nerdcore por vida!

OurWorld is a social network for those interested in socially responsible consumption and investment. It is the brainchild of Jeff and Zig: two guys from New Jersey looking to create a socially responsible business of their own. But what spurred them to create OurWorld?

“A lot of people were thinking and talking and writing about pieces of the social responsibility puzzle, but no one seemed to be effectively bringing all of the issues together,” they said. “There were scattered communities of interest, but no one place where people from all across the social responsibility spectrum were getting together to compare notes and share ideas for practical use of our buying power to promote changes in the way business works.”

Learn about investing in solar stocks and stay in the know by reading Green Business News on the main page. If you need convincing that it pays to be ethical, check out the Jeff, the Network Creator’s, blog post about Ethisphere’s 2008 ranking of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies.” After all, capitalism has the potential to be an extremely effective engine for social change. When you’re all settled in to OurWorld, set up your OurWorld travel blog at The Concourse to let your friends know where you are and what you’re up to!

What else can you do on OurWorld?  Learn how to make your business socially responsible, promote your socially responsible business among a like-minded audience or just influence the wider world!

Join OurWorld to share ideas on using your investment and purchasing decisions to benefit humanity and the environment. Start improving the world with your buying power now!

You may think homeschoolers are few and far-between, but Nor Cal Homeschoolers may be evidence of the contrary. This support network is a virtual meeting place for homeschooling families to come together and  share ideas, tips and information.

Just for being a member, you are entered into the Nor Cal Homeschoolers Contest to win a month-long pass to Krampf.com’s members only area! Even if you aren’t the lucky winner, there’s plenty to be gained. Members keep each other in the loop by posting awesome, local homeschooling events such as Monterey Bay Aquarium’s homeschooling day and a free beginning workshop on sign language for babies and young children. 

Groups are a great way for you to get exactly what you need. Looking to save a dime? Check out the Homeschooler Swap! If you’re new to homeschooling, connect with members for Homeschooling Methods, Book Lists and Reviews, and Homeschooling Links.

Make Nor Cal Homeschoolers your one-stop spot for homeschooling information today!

Do You Etsy? is a social network that supports all Etsy sellers! Network Creator ChiliMango started the network in order to create a place “for Etsy sellers to gather for support and for promoting their arts and crafts.”

We spoke with ChiliMango, hoping to get some insight into how to run a network.

Continue reading Hand-made’s tale…

My Motiv is the meeting place for BMW owners online. And members are proud of their cars, featuring them as photos on most profiles. To catch up with members of this network, keep up with BMW events, covering a variety of locations.

A unique feature to My Motiv is the Cause of the Month tab. This month is Cornwall Air Ambulance, which saved a member’s life airlifting him to safety. The page provides a link to the service, where visitors can learn about how to donate!

Videos are a popular feature on My Motiv, covering races, test drives, and hill climbs. For me, photos is where it’s at on My Motiv. You can search for classics, pick out rally cars or plan a wishlist of bimmers you’d like to own!

If you are a BMW owner, or simply an aficionado, check out My Motiv for your networking needs!

The iPersonic community takes networking a step further; rather than simply connecting people through shared interests, careers, locations, etc, iPersonic will connect you with members who match your personality type.

Based on a personality test he and his wife (a psychologist and author) developed, Network Creator, Marcel Heyne, describes his network as a “unique community that connects you with like-minded people in more than 50 countries.”

Marcel describes his motivation and beautiful vision that started it all:

“One day we thought: what would happen, if we share the test with the world? Would it work on a global basis? Would it help to build bridges between people and cultures? We thought that it would be intriguing to see that there are people of your kind - in different countries and cultures, speaking other languages.”

After iPersonic experienced a successful launch in Germany two years ago, Marcel and his wife “tested the test” on Facebook as a simple application. The test was well received and they knew it was time to create a network on Ning. Today, with networks in English, Spanish and German, iPersonic boasts more than 2,000 members across 50 countries. Every language version has its own world map where people can locate other members based on iPersonic’s color coded typology.

And how does Marcel feel about the progress of iPersonic on Ning?

“I absolutely love this project, I love the enthusiasm of our members and the feeling that we are bringing people together. And I really like NING. Since 1996 I’ve developed various communities here in Germany, ranging from the leading European TV Broadcaster to Hewlett-Packard Germany and including some large B2C Communities. It was quite stunning to see what today’s technology offers. I can now create a project just by myself (instead of being dependent on several programmers and a server infrastructure) in a fraction of time. Wow.”

Marcel and his wife didn’t do this alone — credit also goes to the wonderful members of iPersonic who have helped translate the test. Don’t fret if English, Spanish and German aren’t your languages; getting the test translated into more languages is in the road map!

iPersonic is a unique and free personality test for the world. In just five minutes, it can help you find people like you anywhere on this planet. If you’d like to incorporate personality types using a gadget on your network or page, check out Marcel’s post here. After all, can’t you spare 5 minutes to bring the world a bit closer?

It’s official — DemocracyLive is, well, live!

The network is all about bringing democracy to the people. Members can “read or respond to every Member of Congress in one centralized, unfiltered, on-demand media center,” as the network description says.

Elected officials at all levels of government have profiles on the network. Ask Senator Carl Levin (D-Mi.) about the future of urban Detroit or debate flood-insurance legislation with Senator Jim Bunning (R-Ky.). But you can also track the progress of Brad Avakian, who is running for secretary of state in Oregon.

Of course, political news junkies can visit the main page of the network to find the latest in breaking tidbits about the president campaign or Congressional logjams.

So head over to Democracy Live and join the process!

The Drum Fill challenges all drummers, “Wanna show us what you got?”

The Drum Fill has sure shown us what they’ve got: drums! But, more important, the rhythmically inclined folks who can keep a beat. This sleek network is an awesome resource for drum enthusiasts, players and wannabes to gather and share all sorts of media and ideas about what makes drumming.

All skill levels are welcome here.

Beginners and advanced drummers would be wise to check out the DVDs section. Here you’ll be able to learn the basics of drumming, or when ready delve into the secrets of the Meuller Method. Drumming would be nothing without performance. On the videos page you can see performances from all over showing some sweet venues and some stellar solos! The photos page also does a great job of depicting really unique drums, exploring the world music side of the genre.

Drums are what make music rock! So if you wanna really rock out, head over to The Drum Fill!

Cami Walker created the 29-Day Giving Challenge to encourage her “friends, family, clients and hopefully many strangers to give back to our communities.”

To break it down, she states in her GOAL: Inspire at least 2,000 people to commit to the 29-Day Giving Challenge by July 29, 2008. So far she is up to more than 500 members on her network, who share their stories of giving on their blogs. Cami provides an awesome how-to for stories, photos, and links.

This doesn’t mean Cami or the other participants are giving away everything they own. As she states, “Your 29 gifts can be anything — material objects, money, your time, smiles or kind thoughts.” This is demonstrated in the forum, where people discuss cooking a meal for a friend and cover suggestions on how to give.

If you are interested in challenging yourself, sign up to the 29 Day Giving Challenge!