It’s fairly easy to create a profile and to create a back-story to that profile.  Many users are quite honest with what they place in that profile, and try to disclose as honest a portrayal of their own selves as possible.  Their profiles then act as online portals to their real personas offline.  That doesn’t mean, however, that other people are as scrupulous or honest as others.  It’s just as easy to create a fake profile that does not portray a real person, but still acts “real” or “true.”

People build real-life relationships through trust and care, which are things that are noticeably absent from many online social networks.  Instead of establishing relationships that will last, friends and acquaintances in online social networks become reduced to a statistic in a long catalog of contacts.

When we make friends, we expect a certain degree of trust: that we know this person, we respect this person, and we know that this person exists.  In online social networking, the principle is to keep adding contacts and acquaintances, even without real-life interaction.  Blind trust is made at an instant.  We can accept people as part of a network regardless of who they are, or if they are real or not.

Instead of living our online lives in such a broke state, we need to be more critical and careful with how we establish ourselves and our friendships online.  Instead of being passive and unresponsive in the way we participate in social networks, we should instead be more responsive to truth, trust, care, and friendship; things that are noticeably absent in online social networks.

The profile-driven approach of many social networking sites acts as a blank slate.  While it is expected that people are reasonably honest to put their real names, post their real pictures, and disclose true testaments on their profiles, there are limits to it:

• People may not know much about who they are.  Socrates once said that the unexamined life is not worth living.  Examining and reflecting upon one’s life takes a lot of time and commitment, which is something that not a lot of people can spare.  Some people may not be articulate enough to explain to the world about who they are.  More than that, the profile is limited to only one perspective.
• People may lie.  In putting your best foot forward, there’s always that temptation to make something up about yourself.  Exaggerations or fibs can make people seem more important or more remarkable.  It’s often the case that the profile is very incoherent and that the story is never consistent.  Some people may even make up a whole new different persona, but they don’t need to be held accountable for it.
• People may invent characters.  As easy at it is to lie about the self, it’s also easy to deceive other users in believing that a particular profile is owned by a real person, even if there’s really no real-life identity behind it.  Some of the most complete character-sketches on social network sites may be outright deceptions and hoaxes.

Online social networks are very important, especially in a time where everything goes digital.  Yet with the problems presented by profile-driven accounts, can we find ways to make ourselves more complete and coherent when we’re on social networking sites?

The “Volunteer” event at LifeThread™ provides a place for you to document your efforts and activities for your favorite charitable organization or cause-oriented group.  The timeline-driven approach of LifeThread™ allows you to upload posts and media chronologically.  Pictures, videos, and recordings of volunteer work can be very useful for your organization, especially if you want to document your projects.

By connecting with other users and groups, your volunteer efforts can also raise awareness for your cause.  Other users may also find hope and inspiration in the stories and photos you share to the world.  More than that, the posts on LifeThread™ last forever, which makes the site a place for you to commemorate the unsung heroes of your community.

Whether it’s a daycare center, Sunday school, or search and rescue operations by volunteers, LifeThread™ can be a place to honor people’s efforts to help those in need.

Some pet owners think of their pets as extensions of their personalities, of their circle of friends, or even part of the family.  You’re free you make a dedicated LifeThread™ as a living memory of your pet.  The “Pets” event, however, ensures that the life and times of your pet become part of your own timeline.

Every picture or video of your pet holds a quirky and fun new story that’s just waiting to be told.  LifeThread™ is a timeline-driven, story-oriented social networking site.  Instead of comments made with a few words, LifeThread™ encourages you to write pithy yet fun stories about the pictures, videos, and sound clips you post on your account.  People can then read and Bear Witness™ to the many fun moments you spent with your animal pals.

At LifeThread™, the amazing adventures of your pets can now be part of Every Human Story™.

Unlike other social networking sites, LifeThread™ is very easy to use.  LifeThread™ is like a virtual scrapbook, photo album, and personal diary all in one complete package.  Old photos, anecdotes, stories, and even insights to life all have a room in your own personal LifeThread™ account.

Thanks to the Bear Witness™ feature, friends and family can attest to the truth behind your stories.  You can scan your old photos or take pictures of mementos you have gathered over the years, and post them on the events available on LifeThread™.  You don’t have to worry about your posts disappearing; the special features of LifeThread™ ensure that all of your memories are retained forever.

You can think of LifeThread™ as a treasure trove of stories and testaments to life that you have collected over the years.  With all the interesting stories that you can share, your friends and family are sure to savor the precious moments of your golden years.

LifeThread™ is your own personal autobiography, but it also gives the gift of inspiration to your friends and family when you pass on.  When you sign up for an account at LifeThread™, you are given a special feature called the Immortality Vault.  You can fill your Immortality Vault with posts, messages, and media that friends and family can view when you have passed on.

The Immortality Vault also contains information about causes and organizations that you support.  Aside from being a treasure trove of memories, the Immortality Vault can also act as your last will and testament.   The Immortality Vault can only be accessed with a special tool called the Skeleton Key.  Your LifeThread™ lives on with the precious memories, messages, and causes that you have left behind.

Passing away does not have to be the end of your memories.  Thanks to LifeThread™ and the Immortality Vault, your life will always be a living memory for everyone.

You can make a LifeThread™ account for a friend or a family member in the armed forces.  When he or she sends pictures and letters from the camp, you can upload them in the “Military” category found in the Events timeline.  People can leave their own stories, comments, and memories of their friend or family member.  The LifeThread page can then be a living testament to a soldier on the battlefield.

In military bases and installations with Internet access, a soldier on the camp can also use LifeThread™ to communicate and exchange stories with other friends and contacts.  With the story-driven focus of LifeThread™, stories about the military can hold many extraordinary stories of courage and valor.

LifeThread™ comes with the “Achievements” event, where you can post pictures and text about honors and awards you have one.  Many awards and mementos you keep on your mantle or curio cabinet may be significant to you, and it’s best to share them with others so that they can be proud of you as well.  It may be a trophy for a perfect game of bowling, a spelling bee prize your child won at school, a certificate for your efforts in the community, or some major award that you have received for your significant work.

One day you’ll win something as important as the Nobel Prize or the Pulitzer Prize, but you don’t have to wait that long for recognition and respect.  Thanks to LifeThread™, you can start to gain more confidence by telling the story of small things that make you a real winner in life.

LifeThread™ is one of the awesome tools that you can use to immortalize the story of you and your partner.  You can start off with how you first met, your first date, to the day you or your partner proposed.  You can continue writing your story right down to the time you got married and started a life together.

One of the 26 events available on LifeThread is the “Love Life” event, where you can share stories about your own love story.  Like any other event at LifeThread™, other people can Bear Witness™ to the story that you’re telling on a post.  What makes LifeThread™ an excellent place for you to share your love story is that you can revel in the feeling of your own partner being your witness.

The social networking features of LifeThread™ also make it possible for other people to draw lessons and advice from your inspirational romantic saga.  They may take advice from lessons you yourself have learned during the course of your relationship.  Short breakups, reunions, dating tips, and even planning a marriage all have room in LifeThread™.

The events and categories on your LifeThread™ account provide you with an avenue for every cherished moment you share with your partner.  You can post old photos, type yellowing love letters as text posts, or upload your own renditions of favorite love songs or the song played on your wedding.

They say that true love lasts forever.  With LifeThread™, you can immortalize your love story and share it to the world.

Storytelling at LifeThread™ is made easy with a simple interface.  LifeThread’s™ interactive 3D timeline is easy to understand for anyone who has used a social networking site before.  From here, you can upload all sorts of media that can make your story worth following.  You can post pictures, audio, and even video to make the experience more engaging for friends, family, and members of your network.

You don’t even have to write full-length chapters of a novel to start with your own personal autobiography.  When writing stories and posts on LifeThread™, you can unleash your creative potentials.  You can try your hand at writing poems or verses, or even write the most creative paragraphs you have in store.

At LifeThread™, we encourage you to write the kind of story that you would want to be immortalized for generations.  With LifeThread™, you can get started on your way to telling your very own story to the world.