User:Chriswaterguy/Online collaboration and networking

''If you have suggestions to add to this page, let me know on the talk page. Or you can be bold and edit this page.''

I'm very interested in free networking sites that help to link people with common interests. Not so much Friendster or Hi5, which don't appeal to me as there is no easy way to find people with similar interests. At least, not for people like me who don't have typical interests.

My favourites are in bold.

Note that some of these sites have Wikipedia articles about them, which may be helpful.

Information

 * Wikipedia
 * Other Wikimedia projects such as Wikibooks (textbooks)
 * Other wiki communities... most develop sources of information which are not suitable for Wikipedia (i.e. not "encyclopedic"). Some may serve other functions.

Sustainability and development

 * Appropedia, a sustainability and development wiki
 * Ekopedia, a sustainability wiki. Ekopedia and Appropedia are in serious dialog.
 * Global Swadeshi - forum and social network for appropriate technology and related topics.

Accomodation for travellers

 * CouchSurfing in Wikipedia My username: Singkong
 * Hospitality Club in Wikipedia My username: Singkong

Working for food and accomodation
I haven't registered yet, but I've heard they're good:
 * HelpX not in Wikipedia, yet -
 * WWOOF in Wikipedia - Not free. you might want to try a free site first, and then join WWOOF if you think you need to see other offers.

Volunteering
See also Volunteer

This section is for sites which helps organizations hook up with donors and volunteers. |Let me know if there's other sites doing this kind of thing (likewise for any of the other sections on this page).

Beware: There are sites which ask you to pay to volunteer! It's normal that you pay your own airfare, and perhaps pay a reasonable amount for food and accomodation, but I strongly prefer to avoid businesses such as i-2-i who charge well above the usual local rates in third world countries. My preference is to wing it... but that may be daunting, even unwise in some circumstances, so another path is to link up with non-profit organisations before you go. These sites may help.

Volunteering for development work

 * Global Hand
 * VolunteerMatch
 * Charity Guide

Online volunteering
Help without leaving your computer:
 * Nabuur Foundation - connects local communities in need of help with online helpers. I'm registered as Chris Watkins.
 * Online Volunteering (a United Nations Volunteers service) - registered as Singkong. Assignments Search
 * Murphy's volunteer project: http://www.keyfarmers.org
 * Siebert's volunteer project: http://spear.org.bz
 * Elder Wisdom Circle: http://www.elderwisdomcircle.org
 * Myths: http://www.coyotecommunications.com/volunteer/ovmyths.html

Dating & social networking sites

 * OkCupid in Wikipedia Great matching & search methods. My username: Bayangan
 * Plentyoffish in Wikipedia Very poor searching and matching - but I've put up a profile so other people can contact me if they want. My username: Wayang
 * Singleswhoclick in Wikipedia Australian-based. Haven't checked it out much, searching and matching didn't grab me.
 * Personals Wikia - though it's still experimental - not even clear what it's doing yet - is it for dating, or is it meta in some way? I'm Singkong2005

See also the personals sections of the advertising sites below.

And with everything opening up, we shouldn't be surprised when we find open source, ahem, "art" photography. After all, most of you perverts are just taking a quick break from surfing porn to read my pages.

Free online advertising

 * Craigslist in Wikipedia
 * Gumtree in Wikipedia (or Kijiji.com in Wikipedia - same network, which name depends on the country).

Who the hell is Singkong2005?
A wikiholic who is known offline as Chris Watkins. Not that I'm often offline. See my main page, or my Wikipedia page, if you want to know more.