The response to the recent tragedy in Haiti could be seen as a perfect example of how life in a ‘global village’ can be positive. Within minutes of the news reports appearing on the world’s media channels, thousands of people had rushed to send help in the form of charitable donations – many of which were handled online. Entire websites appeared overnight detailing ways to donate, while ‘help Haiti’ became a ‘trending’ topic on Twitter. In one particularly touching example, seven-year-old Charlie Simpson raised over £150,000 on his Just Giving page after being shocked by the plight of children his own age who’d been affected by the quake.

On the face of it, it’s hard to deny that an increasingly global culture brings people together in many positive ways that simply weren’t available in our parents’ generation. Our collective consciousness of world events has never been higher, but aside from large-scale, global disasters, does this constant influx of information tend to call us to action, or are we reaching saturation point? With so much need and poverty in the world, and so much each individual could do, it’s easy to feel paralysed in the face of information overload.

It’s also important to remember that in a global village, we are often at the mercy of those who are feeding us the information. We’re fortunate to live in a society with relatively little censorship or media bias, but we still cannot guarantee that what is important to us will be reflected in news reports and other public information sources.

That’s why it’s crucial to have a strong sense of our own beliefs, priorities and principles, and to team up with others – joining organisations where possible that will fight on our behalf. And to witness as much of life as possible for ourselves, allowing us to draw our own conclusions without relying on what someone else saw. Only then can we hope to make a difference, to know when to react and how we can help: whether the cause is on our doorstep or on the other side of the earth.

Image: United Nations Development Programme

Hanging out on Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm has its place (usually the workplace), but just as we all have different friendship groups for different real world activities, social networks serve different purposes online.

If you want to get away from the mainstream and go somewhere where everybody knows your name (sort of), why not check out our suggestions for some smaller networks.

We’ve picked places that fit in with Jorg&Olif’s slow life ethos, seeking out the best places to feed your passions online.

Do let us know if we’ve missed off your favourite!

1. Ravelry

Who’s it for?

Crafting enthusiasts — knitters and crocheters.

Why is it special?
Ravelry is really quite something. While Facebook and Twitter are hogging the headlines, Ravelry went and won .Net’s “Community Site of the Year” Award 2010. It also recently signed up its millionth user.

This isn’t just for collecting fibre arts enthusiasts, it’s a seriously useful resource. In fact, crafters like me are starting to wonder how we ever lived without it. You can search for patterns, join groups of like-minded craft addicts, show off your latest creations and organise your upcoming projects and patterns.

As a resource for finding great patterns, there’s nothing to match it. And as a community it really is a fuzzy and warm place to hang out.

2. Junkmarket Style

Who’s it for?
People who like thrifting, upcycling, and creating new stuff from old stuff

Why is it special?
This is a fairly small community — just over 9000 people — but that’s what makes it so great. The people who have joined are supreme beings when it comes to skip diving and yard sale thrifting — and they’re happy to share their secrets, ideas and designs.

The site also features special projects from the editors. If you’re into upcycling, this site is a veritable eyeball feast of  repurposed junk.

3. Cycle Social

Who’s it for?
Cycling enthusiasts of every variety.

Why is it special?
If you miss Me and My Bicycle (founder Ben is now too busy to keep it going) this is a good alternative. Made up of over 1000 members, this UK-based biking club has everything you’d expect from a Ning network: you can read users’ blog posts, upload pictures and videos and join smaller groups.

It doesn’t feel quite as active as Me and My Bicycle did in its heyday, but there’s something to be said about a social network that you need to check once every few days rather than once every few minutes.

4. Shoot

Who’s it for?
People who love their gardens… or love the idea of having one

Why is it special?
This is a gardening community that’s perfect for people who want to get gardening but don’t really know how. Sign up and you can recreate your real garden virtually, plugging in all the plant info you can find and planning what you’re going to do next.

Once you’ve told Shoot what plants you’ve got, it will send you regular emails telling you what bits of trimming, cropping and planting you should be doing.

The one downside is that if you get too carried away, you’ll need to pay for proper membership.

5. We Heart It

Who’s it for?
Eye-candy fans and aesthetes.

Why is it special?
This is a community where words aren’t really required. Perhaps it’s more accurate to describe it as a social bookmarking site, since We Heart It works like a visual scrapbook of all your favourite images.

It’s a great place to get inspiration — and to follow taste-makers, designers and other photo fanatics.

What are you favourite alternative social networks? Tell us your secret communities!