Social entrepreneurship has momentum.
The social mindset is transforming a few small companies into forming collaborative and inclusive real communities, not just virtual communities. How? The activity of neighborly sharing of tools or kitchen utensils is as old as the cave dwellers. Now, think of apartment and condominium buildings where people interact in the modern world. How can their interaction be helped? How do urban dwellers benefit from a modern social spark in addition to meeting in the elevator or laundry room or at the front door? The new idea is a sharing network akin to popular social networks. What does the new sharing network do? The same as for the past few thousand years, it shares tools, kitchen utensils, books as well as movies and games and more.
What pools of common interests can be promoted? One modern shared-interest paradigm is often epitomized as the 1950s and 1960s migration to suburbs and tract houses and commuting. More recently, the migration of the 1950s and 1960s enormously moved in the other direction into urban areas. Urban growth has been very active in recent decades. The population changed its ways – now there are more urban dwellers on the planet than others. What a shift in living styles!!
The way to create a sense of neighborliness and commonality of purpose is to share ideas and concerns and beliefs. The time-tested, face-to-face way to share ideas, concerns and beliefs was transformed by Facebook and Linked In which recast human interaction in a modern, online social networking way. Social networking online is the norm, but to make it more local, more neighborly add a new paradigm – the sharing of not only ideas, concerns, beliefs and pictures, but ordinary, useful items as well.
Who is serving the urban dwellers? How about they serve themselves!? The economics are purely terrific – for no or little cost, an urban dweller can use an item that otherwise would cost too much to buy. If use is occasional, then big money savings are available. If use is in anticipation of buying the same or like item, then a test run of your neighbor’s item promotes marketplace efficiency.
In the meantime, we urban dwellers all get to know our neighbors. Getting to know neighbors is as helpful today as it was 25,000 years ago. More familiarity with one’s neighborhood is a linchpin to social stability and urban safety.