Currently there are a couple of discussions going on here on Zaadz that is getting  me quite excited. Communication is happening, views are exchanged, misperceptions are addressed.

It seems to me that what we have created here at Zaadz is a place on the net for positive communication. After spending time on Zaadz, it is our ideal that the member will feel better for being here.

The idea is simple and well documented on the front page in Brian's welcoming letter.

What follows are my thoughts surrounding the sosial networking community that we are building here:

We want to be part of people's lives. People who want to live a life of health and sustainability. We want our members to learn from each other. We want our members to have various opinions. We want debate. We want encouragement. We want community.

We are not here to provide a platform for meaninglessness. We want people to come here for inspiration.

This might come as a shock to many, but (and here it goes <drum roll>) I am not vegan.
I am not particularly fluffy. But I want to learn to live at my highest potencial as a human being. And there are a hell of a lot of people here at zaadz from whom I can learn a lot - many of whom happens to be vegans, and buddhists and also entrepeneurs and accountants.

It often happens that people who want to continiously better themselves are also the people who want to better the world. - some of us are even crazy enough to believe that we can.

A online community that exists for the sole purpose of changeing the world into a place where many more people live lives of sustainability and responsibility will attract people of all walks of life, creed and commitment.

Is it then strange that many vegans, hippies and artists are flocking to Zaadz?

People that choose to be vegan on philosophical basis are exactly the type of person who believes that he/she can actually make a difference in this world - and therefore he/she is exactly the type of person that you could expect to find at a community networking site with the sole intention of changeing the world.

So if you join a social networking community, with the heading on the welcoming page reading:

"Let's Change the World."

why are you surprised to find people that want to change the world?

But you'll also find a bunch of business people, skeptics, scientists and even programmers that are committed to bettering themselves and the world for others too.

Therefore zaadz is not a community for vegans or any particular religious creed. We are a community of humans, from different creed and philosophy, with enough respect for our selves and others to be willing to learn from each other and to share from our experience in such a way that can be benifitial to everybody, without being judgemental or exclusive.

In order to preserve this openess in our community we have to have principles. Therefore I am sure that positiveness from anyone will be welcomed just like bickering and abusiveness must be frowned upon by the community.

What we have successfully achieved thusfar is a spirit of positive communication.

In that spirit the offending idea ("give up this new age shit & just build a decent networking site") could have been easily rephrased in such a way that would have encouraged constructive, positive communication.

how about: 'just build a decent networking site for those of  us that do not feel the need to change the world"

The response would've been to the same effect - something along these lines: ("there are a number of decent networking sites without a clear mission. for us, the mission is more important than the site. We are not trying to be the only community networking site, and we are not trying to replace any online communities. We are just builing a platform for positive communication. If you want community without the mission, please join one of the other free communities.")

In the end I am a programmer. I want to create the best platform for the users of Zaadz.
But if my goal was the platform, then I would not be part of this. I want to change the world. I want people to be responsible. I want people to be healthy, and I want people to be wealthy. I am not a guru. I am not a charasmatic wellness/health/wealth/selfesteem coach. I am not a philosopher, a teacher, a monk, a talkshow host or a cyclist.

In the end I am a programmer. If Zaadz was just a decent networking site - It would just be a decent job for me. But it is not. My job inspires me. Apart from the wonderfull technology that I get to work with (which makes Zaadz a decent networking site), I know that the features I add to Zaadz will make it easier/more fun for people to connect on a meaningfull level.

I feel damn lucky to be part of this. Not just as a developer, but also as a member.
I learn a lot from members, co-workers and even just reading through member profiles.
I personally can't wait for some of the features that we will be adding in the near future - it will enhance members' ability to communicate.

If you want to better yourself, those around you and the world, like we are bettering our platform continiously, then there is no other place on the net that can offer you what our community can.

But if you are content with this world, and just want a place to interact with other like minded people to distract you from what is going on around you, then surely you could join another, more comfortable, more developed community (one that maybe doesn't require something from you - like putting up with a pre-beta system, and at least trying to be positive) without a set mission and crazy ideals.

Our mission is not to simply create the best networking site on the www. Our mission is to change the world. Our networking site is just one step, one part of the puzzle, and one of our goals is to make it as effective and fun as possible.

Please actively join our community as a source of positive influence, I can at least guarantee learning about interesting viewpoints and meeting interesting people.
But if you decide that you are not up to the responsibility or you are not interested in communicating positively with fluffy folk, then we won't try to impress you or convince you to be a member.

Our success is not dependent on the number of members we get, but on the quality of our community. Obviously the more the better for our mission, but it would be counter productive towards our mission if we were to get millions of users that is not interested in bettering the world.

Anyhoooo, that is my two cents on the matter. What are your thoughts on building a community of people with different philosophies, but essentially the same ideal of a better world for all?