A social network is a social structure that is made up of individuals (or organizations) that I will call "nodes”. These nodes are connected to one another, by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, neighbours, colleagues, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige. The list is endless.

One of the obvious connections between Sharmers (the nodes in this case), is the fact that we all choose to live here. So somehow, we are a family or a community, whether you like it or not.

This means that networking is a very important aspect for survival in Sharm – or anywhere for that matter. Now, the tricky part is trying to create a harmonious network in Sharm as there are so many different groups and circles of people here. There is a multitude of pre-conditioned minds, from many different parts of the world. It’s so simple to say, everyone should try to get to know one another, and let go of judgments. It’s so easy to say we are all living together, and can all learn a lot from each other. We are all part of a community and should act like it.

But how do you go about doing that? How do you find something in common between you and someone who comes from a different part of the world that speaks a different language, and has a different belief system? Is it even possible? It must be.

If human’s can create rockets and nuclear weapons, why can’t they create harmony weapons, where you are nuked with a big blow of harmony between people? There must be a way. 

Sharm is full of those who could go all day without interacting with anyone at all. A lot of people may feel out of place, or different, or alien from those around them. It would be fantabulous if Sharmers could break out of the pre-conditioned bubble, and start venturing a bit further into the purpose of our existence – the exact same way you did when choose to come and live here. If you are rebellious enough to leave your hometown, and move here, why are so many people not rebellious enough to interact with strangers, only to make them turn into friends?
 

Obviously, not every person you meet, you will like, but surely there must be some people out there that are like you. I have heard the same thing from so many different types of Sharmers, “…life in Sharm is great, but it’s very hard to make friends.” Again, the question becomes, why is that? Why is it harder to make friends in Sharm than in Manchester, or Berlin, or The Hague, or, or or.. Surely if people made the time to get to know fellow Sharmers, why they are in Sharm, and what their hopes for Sharm are, all in all, it would create a better Sharm for us, our children and future generations. 

Our fellow Sharmers may be divers, tour reps, business owners, bikers, parents and students, (again the list is endless), but maybe living on different planets. You drive around in a place like The Marine Club area; densely packed with people’s homes, yet there is no harmony in the air. There is no humble fusion between each block. Come on people, you are homies, you live in the same neighbourhood. During my world travels, I have always found it a common thing, that when you walk past someone in the morning, or when you are in London and you hop onto the tube, people greet you with a smile. Why is it here that is not so often?

Why do people often look down to the floor, when a stranger walks right by them? I sat outside 24/7 on Hadaba in my car, just watching the way people interact with other. It was common to find those in similar uniform t-shirts mingling, but when someone who wasn’t in that uniform walks by, they all look down to the floor. For a moment I thought it may have been a racial issue, but it wasn’t – nothing to do with the race – definitely something to do with invisible barriers, that automatically appear in certain instances – again, a pre-conditioned mind.

So what is a pre-conditioned mind? My understanding of it (which is not necessarily the same as yours, but that is ok and allowed) is that everyone comes here, from where ever they are from, thinking that their way is the best, or the only way. Well, it’s not. It is simply a different way. If people could learn to accept other people’s differences, then the social network in Sharm would be very different. Note that accepting someone’s differences doesn’t mean you have to agree with them. You can agree to disagree. If that was the case, we would all be here as one. We would all do things for the sake of the place, not only for the personal sake.

On that note, I would like to applaud Clean Sharm for their efforts. Fantastic initiation. We want more of that. We would all be able to work together in moving and changing things in Sharm that bothered all of us. It worked in Ruwaysat, when members in the Ruwaysat area became active in consistently informing authorities with the needs of the area – a residential entrance is now being made. That’s a perfect example of the Ruwaysat community using their social network at it’s best. Imagine if that happened all over Sharm, on all aspects, and on all fronts: personal, professional, civil, and so on. Someone has to start somewhere.

Give it a thought. How is your mind pre-conditioned, and how does that affect the Sharm social network? Or, how many networks within the networks can you identify?