Connect around views and values
This section helps you connect with People. Connecting with other People sounds trivial, but many see it as challenging.
From what i have observed, you guys want to connect with People who have something in common with you: views, knowledge, ideas, beliefs, and values.
I’m Julien, and i’m going to suggest a few things you can do to help you connect with other folks. This section will only talk about connecting. Another section here will discuss doing actions with the folks you connect with.
First, i want to talk to you about approaching this activity. I want to give you the big picture so that you understand what you can do when you think about connecting with other folks.
Step back
I am used to stepping back and observing. It’s part of my job, allowing me to understand how things work. As i understand how things work, i can increase my impact. In the video below, i am giving you tips on how People function. It should help you to better connect with others.
Observe
Observing how People behave can help you to filter who you want to connect with and who you do not wish to link with. When you observe People talking or acting, you observe not just words and actions but also beliefs, knowledge, visions, and values. You do have the option to observe People if you want to. It’s likely that you already do so without realizing it.
The video below explains the idea and gives you a few examples.
Be aware of polarization
We are in a strange situation where many of us refrain from talking to each other about several topics. People may be offended. How strange is that?
To me, it’s no surprise. Let me share with you my view. I understand that you may have a different view. Mine is that topics were introduced inside society to polarize People. It signifies that People can only think yes or no on a topic. If you polarize People, you divide them, and thus, People are easier to control because they are divided and not united. This is the reason why folks like George Soros spend millions of dollars to promote topics that divide People. They bring inside society topics that don’t need to be introduced. There is usually no issue until the topic gets introduced, and you are pushed to pick a side: yes or no. This divides society. As you do this on multiple issues, society is increasingly divided. Never forget that the folks with billions of dollars are usually good at strategy. Polarization is one of their strategies.
All this polarization makes it harder for us to connect with other folks because there is less room for engagement. It’s either yes or no. There is no more room for a middle ground. There is no room for a middle ground, so you don’t engage or mind every word you use. How fun is that?
You should not censor yourself. As i explained to you, polarization of society (People either thinking yes or no) is a strategy to isolate People. Fighting back this strategy includes going toward the People and engaging with them. I do not invite you to start a conversation on a taboo topic, but i invite you to engage in discussions and find a middle ground. It could be that you guys share similar values, even if you know the other person is polarized on some topics.
The critical point here is to engage in conversations and connections. Do not restrain yourself. When you restrain yourself, you restrain society as a whole, giving more power to the People seeking to divide society.
Feel free to listen to my thoughts in the below video.
Ways to connect
Seize daily opportunities
Simple tips to talk to other folks
Find a local support group
Use the internet to find groups
Some existing groups
Local initiatives
Join organizations aligned with your values
Showcase your values
Organize talks and activities
Create your own group
Use your competencies to co-build solutions for People to connect
We will talk about each one of these suggestions in the below sections.
1. Seize daily opportunities
Every day, you may have opportunities to connect with folks you interact with. The cashier at the supermarket, the customers at the local stores, the folks at the office that you often see but don’t talk to.
It does take courage to start a conversation. It can be rewarding. A conversation is an opportunity to create a new meaningful connection, a local group, share activities, or even start a community.
In a context where some People do not dare to talk to others, they may be happy to see People engaging in conversation with them.
The below video expands on this idea. Feel free to watch.
2. Simple tips to talk to other folks
Listen to your intuition
Don’t use big statements
Don’t start the conversation with a polarizing topic
Use questions
Get the other person to talk
Use active listening
Understand what matters to this person
Avoid shallow conversations
3. Find a local support group
Some folks may already have created a local group that helps them to support each other. I call it a “local support group,” but feel free to name it how you want. It’s a group of People who need or want to help each other. They are likely to share similar values.
One or more groups may be existing in your neighborhood or town. How can you know?
Talk to local People and ask them if there is a local group
Ask the local social center
4. Use the internet to find groups
The internet can help you find groups of People who share your views and values.
You will likely have in mind some apps and websites that you can use. A few examples are Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, LinkedIn, Patreon, Social, Google Search, and Discord.
What matters is that you keep in mind what you are looking for. The internet is vast, and it is easy to get lost, sidetracked, and ultimately, waste your time. A precious time.
Here are my pieces of advice:
Search for a local group. In your search, you include a word linked to something local (your neighborhood, a postal code, a town name, a region). Start locally and expand towards larger geographical areas, such as regions, if you cannot find anything locally (neighborhood, district, city).
Let’s take an example together. I will pick a town right now, and we will try to find local people there together. Let’s take a city in Italy. We randomly picked “Prato,” a city or a neighborhood of Florence, a large town in Italy. Alright, where do we start? Let me suggest trying Telegram. Let’s go to Telegram, type “Prato,” and see what we get. Here is what we get:
The results show some Telegram channels named "Prato," but nothing matches what we seek. We can also search for “Prato Italy,” but the results are not helpful.
Let’s try Facebook. We go to Facebook and search for “Prato Italy.” Here is what we get:
Looking at the results, we can see in the picture above a Facebook group (PATRO e la mia citta) about Prato, the city. Well, that means “People”. The group has 21,000+ persons. It’s a private group, but you could request to join it and open a discussion in this group. It may be a stepping stone towards connecting with People in your city.
Imagine we cannot find any results on Facebook. What can we do?
We can search in other applications: Twitter, TikTok, Youtube, Instagram, etc.
The critical point is to use keywords that make sense. Start with small geographical areas like a neighborhood or a city and continue with larger geographical areas like regions or states.
You should search for People who are interested in a specific topic. Using the same city, Prato, imagine that you want to find People in Prato who are interested in food autonomy. In Italian “autonomia alimentare”. How do you suggest we find such People?
We could do a search on Facebook for “Prato autonomia alimentare.” We could do that same search on Google or any other search engine. We could do this search on YouTube. Browse the results and check if any of them are a match.
This search (Prato autonomia alimentare) is quite specific (the town of Prato isn’t large), and even if some People from Prato may be interested in food autonomy, it may not be easy to find them online. Here are a few options:
You continue to search on the internet for People in Prato using different apps.
You extend your search to larger areas, such as Florence or Italy. For instance, you search for “autonomia alimentare” on YouTube or Facebook. You will find multiple groups. Request to join them and start discussing with the People. Introduce yourself so that People know you better. Some People will likely reply, and you can interact with them. Ask questions. These People probably know about other groups because they may have done the same thing as you do: searching for other People with the same interests.
5. Some existing groups
Through my research, i came across several networks where you may find folks sharing your views and values. I call them networks, as these groups may be in several cities. You will see that many networks and groups exist. Let me give you an overview:
Some groups gather People around a problem. A few examples:
children protection
food shortage
side effects of medical procedures
Some groups are more general (new philosophy of life, new economic system, for instance)
Some groups focus on technical solutions. Most of the time, software (apps)
Some groups are mostly online (on the internet), some are offline, and some use offline and online solutions.
Some groups have a spiritual dimension.
You may find these groups through your research or read the below section to save yourself some precious time. Click on the name of the group to access its related official website.
It does not mean that we support everything these groups are doing. It is for you to build your own opinion on them. See these groups as an opportunity to connect with People with similar views. The critical point is to connect with People. It is not to belong to a branded group. At Peoplelyzer, we do not believe in branded groups. They should not be needed because, in the first place, society should operate on the values & principles that support each of us.
People-focused groups, alphabetically sorted:
Arka Brotherhood is a community of men, primarily based in North America, dedicated to integrity and accountability.
Désobéissance fertile (in French): mouvement dont la volonté absolue est de préserver les êtres vivants et de régénérer les écosystèmes lorsque ces derniers ont été dégradés ; cela par tous les moyens. It’s an initiative seeking to preserve life.
Ecosocieties by Through The Golden Door is an initiative in multiple countries. The idea is to put in place a strategy to thrive locally. You can reach out to Tahira through the official website.
My place Australia: this group is online and offline. They are based in Australia. The idea is to put the unity back into the community. They have groups by town.
One Small Town: this solution is hybrid, offline, and online. The idea is to transform your town (7000 People or less) into a place of prosperity and abundance. The key topic is contributionism: People contribute their skills and talents to benefit their community. The innovative component of this group is that they have created their token: the infinity token.
I would be careful about this network so long as it is centralized under one person. Given that money is involved through token investment, you want to be careful.
Solaris: this solution is mainly offline. It’s a network centered around resilience (food, energy). It started in France, and 95%+ % of the folks in it are in France. The network is decentralized; anyone can create a Solaris cell in their geographical area (neighborhood, district, village, town). One of the critical practices of this network is to inventory the resources of People joining a cell. One, two, or three persons per cell, named “referent,” store the list of resources. You need to contact these folks to access the resources you need.
Limits of this solution:
One or a few People inside a Solaris cell centralize the information related to resources. This practice is sub-optimal, and many folks are reluctant to provide their list of resources to one person. It’s a failure point. It’s sub-optimal because you depend on one or a few persons to access resources.
If the model works well in some geographical areas, others may encounter issues. In many cells, no actions are being taken. People have gathered a few times, but nothing has happened. In some other geographical areas, the People chat or organize picnics.
The positioning has historically been about preparing for what was coming. It isn't a suitable value proposition for most People who don't want to be in a constant state of preparedness.
Workaway.info: the largest and safest community for cultural exchange, working holidays and volunteering in around 170 countries. It is a sharing community of global travelers who genuinely want to see the world whilst contributing and giving back to the places they visit. Alongside the welcoming hosts, ready to receive visitors who can help out. I added this website because of the quality of the created connections and the absence of financial transactions.
These groups may have a local group in your town, so feel free to search for your town's and the group's names. For instance, “Solaris Lyon”, to find a group related to Solaris in the city of Lyon.
6. Local initiatives
Often, projects are happening locally. It can be the initiative of a group of residents or an initiative from the city, for instance. If a project resonates with you, there may likely be values behind it that resonate with you. Let’s use the example of permaculture. A permaculture initiative may resonate with you as you value nature. It may be that you respect natural elements such as plants, soil, and animals. Joining this project may connect you to other folks who value respect.
7. Join organizations aligned with your values
An increasing number of organizations are showcasing their values.
Some organizations twist values such as “equity” and “diversity” to advance an agenda, and you should be careful not to fall into this trap.
Some organizations denounce the WOKE movement and are trying to promote untwisted values. You want to spot these organizations.
8. Showcase your views and values
There is a simple way to showcase your values": wearing a cool T-shirt. Imagine slogans like “I value Respect” or “I love Empathy.” You give other People the opportunity to know what your values are. You make it easy for others to find you.
Here are a few t-shirts i have designed for you. Feel free to visit the Peoplelyzer T-shirt page to get yours!
9. Organize talks and activities
You can organize talks and activities to find People who share your views and values. For example, you value trust. Can you arrange a local talk or activity around this value?
You could think of a sports activity where trust is required between team members. This is just one example. I‘m sure you can find ideas.
Imagine you want to develop food autonomy. Can you organize an event in your neighborhood around food autonomy?
As you deploy energy to create something, you will likely get interest from People around you. Some will want to join you and help. It’s all about getting started. Often, you need to be the one that starts something.
10. Create your group of People
One option may be to create your group of People. You can do this online or offline (outside of the internet). Before doing this, check if any group exists (read the previous paragraph).
Whether you create a group online or offline (outside of the internet), here are a few pieces of advice:
Make it public so that People can find the group. Unless you think your group should be private, i invite you to put some information online or offline for People to know that this group exists.
When posting information about the group online, use keywords People would naturally use if they had to search for this group. For example, if you want to create a group related to food autonomy in Prato, you may want to call the group “Prato autonomia alimentare.” Someone searching for this topic would likely type some of these keywords.
Describe the group. What is the group about, and who are you? You want the People who join it to understand what it is about. What do you expect from People? Say it. Don’t assume People know what is expected of them. They don’t (they are not in your head).
Make the group visible. For instance, if you create a local group in your town, why not put a note at the townhouse, the social venue, or the ads section of local shops? If your group is online, imagine you are a user and would like to search for it. How easy is it to find the group you created? How easy is it to understand what it is about?
Start interacting with the People who join the group. Remove the People who are not here to engage with others. Interactions between the People are opportunities to create value. If there is value creation, then People will mention the group to other People, and the group will naturally grow. Don’t be concerned about starting with 2 or 3 people; it’s okay.
You are likely to use a mix of online and offline. For instance, you can create a group in your neighborhood. People will meet physically once every two weeks, for example, and can also interact in a messaging app where you have a group with the same People. The messaging app helps with the coordination, and People inside the group can also chat online. You can also send a poll inside an online group, for instance, to know when People would like to meet or which topic they would be interested in discussing during the next gathering. These are just examples to give you ideas.
There are multiple messaging apps available. I suggest you not use an app owned by the tech giants (WeChat, Facebook/Meta, WhatsApp, Instagram) as these apps do not respect your privacy. An option is Telegram. In Telegram, you can create a group chat and create topics. With topics, you can create group chat according to People’s needs. Here are examples: food autonomy, energy autonomy, and health.
If you create an offline group, organize diners sometimes. Why? We are wired to share meals with the folks we trust. Sharing a meal reinforces trust.
11. Use your competencies to co-build solutions for People to connect
Above, we suggest you create your group. You may want to go even further and design/build solutions for People to connect no matter where they live or what topic they are interested in.
There are solutions to connecting with other People, but you may not be satisfied with them. They may be too complicated, they may not respect your privacy, they may be too branded, or they may not be helpful to reach what you seek.
The fact that you aren’t satisfied with existing solutions is good. It’s good because it means there is probably an opportunity to create something. First, do you think you should check that other People have the same needs as you? Talking to other People may help validate that you aren’t the only one with this need.
At Peoplelyzer, we have talked with many folks and observed that many are unhappy with existing solutions to connect and let People interact. They even feel frustrated because they wish for solutions to help them reach their desired outcomes. If you think the same, please read “The Challenge of creating solutions to connect People” section. It’s a section where we aim to work together on this problem and create effective solutions.
The challenge of connecting People
People need to connect. How do we connect them? This section is for those who want to co-create solutions that are relevant to People’s needs.