hoodPALS :: How We Differ :: Part One :: Being Neighbours

As I mentioned in my last blog post yesterday (hoodPALS :: Beginning of our Story), it is our aim to repave the Information Superhighway by reinventing Social Networking! Making hoodPALS different from all the others. This first initiative which is at the core of hoodPALS relates to how we organize users. Instead of grouping users individually, hoodPALS divides itself into neighbourhoods ("hoods"). These are the building blocks in which users are associated. Why you might ask.

Neighbourhoods are universal and global. No matter where you live, you live in a neighbourhood. hoodPALS recognizes this, and has built itself around this concept. In doing so, it presents many opportunities for our users. Allow me to illustrate with a couple examples:

1. This example pertains to the neighborhood you currently live in. hoodPALS allows you to become more acquainted and connected with your neighbourhood: with people who also live there (your neighbours), events and functions, businesses, and various activities. See someone from time to time you have come to recognize? You can can explore your hoodPALS neighbourhood to see if you can find then, and maybe connect. And maybe become pals. Learn more about your neighborhood in terms of what it offers. Become more involved, actively and proactively to help preserve and reshape your community. Make your hood more than just a cluster of people, but more of a community sharing common interests while encouraging growth in diversity.

2. This example relates to if and when you decide to move to another community. Could be for a new job. Could be to be closer to family. Or, just a change of scenery. The reasons are unlimited. Let's say you live Vancouver, BC, Canada. It's where I call home (in the neighbourhood of the West End). You have been offered a new job in Paris, France. Fine and dandy. A lifetime opportunity you are looking forward to. Paris is a big city. 105.4 km² with a population of 2.161 million (2019). Wow, where do you live! There are 20 districts (equivalent to neighbourhoods) in Paris, which can be further subdivided like all neighbourhoods. You have preferences: demographic, socioeconomic, cultural, historical, etc. What to do. hoodPALS can help by allowing you to explore the neighbourhood, and chat and network with people in that community - virtually before you move there. Make virtual friends who later could become your real friends there, or at least point you in the right direction. Before you know it, you are already part of the community before you have even physically moved there. Know in advance what to expect, and where to look. Contacts to assist you in the process, and to make the relocation more fun and enjoyable.

One could come up with more examples, but these two help paint a picture. Connecting with your community: people, place, and things. It's what we, humans, are all about. It's what hoodPALS is all about. Not just the points on the globe representing us individually, or the countries we call home. But, our communities. Where we live and may have grown up. Where we work. Where we play. Where we raise our families. Where our children and children's children (and so on) might do the same. Or maybe in another community (close or far), but hoodPALS will be there to help preserve the connections, and form new connections. Simple.

Part Two of this series follows tomorrow: yet another difference which sets us up as unique. Where hoodPALS respects your privacy and rights. To not exploit our users for financial gain or otherwise. Safe, private, and simple.