Greenwala - The Green Social Network

Social networks are not created equal. First, the primary function of a social network must be established. Is it a job seeker's social network (OC JobTalk), a video sharing network (Vimeo), a political network (Rock The Vote), a network to reconnect with friends (Facebook), or even a specific interest network (Greenwala)? After the function has been decided, the design must be implemented. To me, a unified design must be prominent or the network will never reach its full potential. Factors such as user interface design, visual hierarchy, available community functions like blogs/videos/groups, the ability for users to intuitively navigate back and forth through the network connecting to the people they want, and many other factors contribute to a social network's success and must be easy to use.

I recently joined Greenwala, "The green social network". This year Greenwala is combatting deforestation by planting a tree for every member who joins. Its goal is to plant one million trees and create a million-member community engaged in the green revolution. That ambitious challenge alone sealed the deal for me when I signed up earlier this month.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I first arrived at their homepage. But, I like what I see and I like what I get. A large interactive component featuring videos, products, articles, and contests. An easy, and prominent interactive navigation bar. A large news feed similar to Facebook's that updates in real time with user generated content. When you join as a member, all of your relative content (profile, blog, classifieds, videos, events, friends, groups, and photos) and a large personal photo is consistently in the right column of every page. I appreciate the large photo and information throughout the website because it makes each page feel personalized for me.

Overall, Greenwala meets my expectations of user-centered functionality and appealing design, and it exceeds my expectations for a social network with a cause. The cause to go green should be on everyone's mind right now (Greenwala posts the figures to prove that).

Find and connect with me on Greenwala, have a tree planted in your name, and learn how fun it is to go green.