Global Twin Cities is yours to use. I built it as a place where globally-minded Minnesotans can connect with each other and with the rest of the world.
Here are a few things you can do here:
- Browse the Spaces and join any groups that interest you. You will notice that there are two kinds of spaces: interest groups centered on a specific topic – like world music, or Cuba or travel stories – and members’ social circles. Most interest groups are public (anyone can join), while members’ circles are usually private: you have to ask to join, or receive an invitation. Circles are for the people you already know; interest groups are for meeting new ones. (On the site’s menus and buttons, both are called Spaces.)
- Create your own blog: your own blog for trip reports, life abroad, world affairs, your family’s story or the cultures you love. Just click on “My Blog” and start writing. You can give your blog a name in your profile, if you haven’t done so already.
- Start a conversation about a place, a language, your heritage or what’s happening in the world, or ask people who’ve been there.
- Meet people who share your languages, your roots or the places you love.
- Find international events: talks, concerts, festivals, films and food from around the world, right here in the Twin Cities.
- Start your own circle, a private place for family and friends near and far. Here’s how.
- Start an interest group around a language, a cuisine, a kind of music or a corner of the world. Here’s how.
Below is a quick guide to finding your way around. It takes about three minutes to read, and it will save you some trial and error.
1. Get started
- Sign up using the Register link. Then add a photo (optional but encouraged) and a few words about yourself: open the menu under your picture and choose Edit Profile. Every other field, including location, profession, the languages you speak and your global connections, is optional. Fill in as much as you like.
- Join two or three interest groups that appeal to you. They’re built around a country, a language or a shared interest.
- Say hello in Minnesota Meets the World: where you are, and what brings you here.
- Have friends abroad? Invite them to join International Connections. When about five members from one country sign up, we’ll open a group just for them.
- Have an idea for a new interest group? Start it yourself, or suggest it in the forum if you’d rather someone else host it.
2. Where to post what
- An interest group (or your circle): conversation, news, photos and quick questions for people who share an interest. When in doubt, start here.
- The Forums: practical questions whose answers will still be useful next year (visas, insurance, getting around). Each question gets its own thread that others can search later.
- Events: talks, concerts, festivals and gatherings, ours and the community’s.
- Photos & video: see what all members are sharing. To make an album of your own, go to My Photos in the menu, open the Albums tab, click + Create Album, then add your photos to it. Your albums appear on your profile under Media → Albums, and you can share an album’s link with friends. Want a photo featured on the homepage? Post it with #homepage and say how you’d like to be credited. Please share only photos you took, and check with anyone recognizable in them first.
- Your own blog: longer pieces such as trip reports and essays. Start one from My Blog. While we’re getting started, I review new blog posts before they appear.
- A quick poll: curious what other people think? Start a post on the Activity feed or in a group, choose the poll option, and add your question and choices. You can set an end date if you like.
3. Who can see what
- Posts in interest groups and on the main Activity feed are visible to everyone, including people who aren’t members.
- Posts in circles and other members-only groups are visible only to that group’s members.
- Each profile field, photo and album has its own visibility setting. Choose who sees it when you add it.
- Please look out for each other. Some of our members live in countries where being identified online can be dangerous. Use first names, and never post anyone’s full name, photo, workplace or location without their permission.
- Use your real name. Global Twin Cities works best when people know who they’re talking to, and it’s how friends, old acquaintances and new contacts will recognize you. Your username becomes your profile address and @mention name. If you have a serious safety concern (for example, family in a country where being identified online is dangerous), a first name and initial is fine, and you don’t need to explain why.
4. Make it yours
- Your feed shows posts from the interest groups and circles you join and the people you connect with. Leave a group or unfollow someone to see less.
- Choose which posts you want to be notified about, and how often. On each group’s page, click the bell icon and pick All activity, Mentions only or None. Then go to Settings → Notifications to choose how you hear about them: on the site, by email right away, or in a daily or weekly summary email. Too many emails? That’s where to turn them down, too.
- Choose who can message you. Any member can send you a private message unless you limit it: go to Settings → Privacy and change Who can message me to people who follow you, people you follow back, or no one. You can also block anyone from their profile.
- Saw something useful? Bookmark it to find it again under Bookmarks in your menu.
5. A few ground rules
I don’t want a long rulebook, but here’s what I’m hoping for:
- Be kind, and assume the best about each other. We come from a lot of different countries, languages and points of view, and things don’t always translate the way we meant them.
- Disagree as much as you like – that’s half the fun – but argue with the idea, not the person.
- Please check with me before posting ads or fundraising appeals.
- If something bothers you, send me a private message. I read every one.
I’m glad you’re here. Introduce yourself, look around, and let me know what you think, including what we’re missing. This project will only succeed if it helps you do the things you want to do. And if you know of an event that connects Minnesota and the world, please share it.
– Jeremy