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KARMACINO - the Buddhist face of Web 2.0

The Buddhist Channel, Jan 18, 2008

San Francisco, USA -- The new generation of socially networked websites collectively known as "Web 2.0" has allowed previously unforeseen possibilities for ordinary computer users to communicate and participate in shaping the content of the World Wide Web.

All manner of special interest groups with members from across the globe have mushroomed using Web 2.0 sites and applications as the modicum of communication and information sharing. However, until recently, Buddhist interest groups were not well represented. Buddhist sites tended to be very "top-down" in structure with a select few able to determine the content and limited possibilities for communication.

Seeing the gap in web services available to the Buddhist community, two Buddhists on opposite sides of the globe with a passion for the web decided that it would be better to "light a candle, rather than complain about the darkness", and Karmacino.com is the solution they have developed.

Currently Karmacino is in it's infancy, but is already attracting a lot of interest both from readers, and from a growing number of contributors. Karmacino uses the Open Source Software application known as Pligg ( www.pligg.com) and is intended to operate in a similar fashion to other social bookmarking sites like Digg and Reddit. However, Karmacino's target user base is the global Buddhist community.

Unlike many other Buddhist sites, Karmacino is non-sectarian and is not seeking to convince anyone of a particular point of view. In fact, any regular web user with an interest in Buddhism can post links to articles than may be of interest to the Buddhist community. Other users of the site rate and review the links with the most popular rising to the top.

"The real strength of Web 2.0 sites is that they become a platform of communication," said Sol Hanna, one of the founders of Karmacino. "Many Buddhists are living in ideological silos where they only consume information that suits their point of view.

But the web is a platform that can easily broaden people's horizons. It's very important at this juncture in history where we have unprecedented means of communication that the different traditions of Buddhism that have been separated by geography, language and culture for 2 millenia begin to build bridges and learn about one another.

Even more important is that we engage with the broader global culture that is emerging and become a relevant part of the information age so that more people have the opportunity to learn about and understand Buddhism. We hope that Karmacino can play a small role in that process."

Glenn Marshall (from Belfast, Northern Ireland) and Sol Hanna (from Perth, Australia) will be paying attention for future developments in web technology and if they find that there is support for Karmacino, will extend the services offered in future to keep Buddhists across the globe connected with one another and current events across the world.

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