Ning: Build Your Own Social Network
Last week I heard about a couple of sites where you could build your own social network. Pretty fascinating stuff. I checked out Zude and Ning.
Zude is cool, but I didn’t find it user friendly. It’s one to watch, though, as I think those ease of use features are coming. It’s still too obviously a content management system for my taste and truthfully, some experiences I had with some open-source CMSs have instilled a slight fear in me of the CMS.
Ning, however, is incredibly user friendly. I re-designed our family web site, KevinandShel.com, using Ning. For me, it was useful to bring in several of my blog feeds and my photos – all in one place for our family to see. That is really one of the minor benefits to Ning. I failed miserably at explaining it to my husband because I used it, used it well, and yet used none of the really cool features.
With Ning, you can build your own community. In a way, you’re building your own Facebook.
If I ran a book club, or owned a small store, or had a knitting group or any sort of group, I’d want to build my site on Ning. First off, it’s free. Second, they have amazing technical support. I got incredibly fast and personalized responses. (I found a bug, now fixed.)
What does it offer? Basically Ning is a content management system. You can build pages and sections for your actual web site. You can also have a forum. You can bring in RSS feeds. Your readers can join, becoming part of a community. They can comment on pages, on photos. Once someone is a member, they can then contribute their own information. You can create groups within your network. Each member gets their own blog. If you as an admin want to feature their blog or their photos, you can. Your own member profile can be used for whatever Ning community of which you are a part. You can customize your profile for each Ning community, pulling from your basic information, but changing the look and feel per network.
It’s quick. It’s easy. And I’m really impressed. It’s an easy way to bring a Web 1.0 web site into Web 2.0. Ning specializes in customization/personalization for each user. And that is a huge part of Web 2.0.
The beauty of any social network is the ability to have your members/users interact not just with you, but with each other. Ning allows that through forums, comments, photos, and more. It’s worth checking out.
Some great sites using Ning include the Wine Spies, Broadway Space, and Ask a Ninja.
Agent White
October 17th, 2007 at 11:10 am #
Great blog – We found Ning to be an interesting way for our members to interact with eachother outside of our regular website. Our Ning group is small, but growing. Cheers!
Giant Squid Connie
November 7th, 2009 at 11:46 pm #
I recently discovered Ning as well, and absolutely love it! The functionality is great, and the design possiblities are endless.
I’ve built several networks to use for different purposes. Ning is simple to use, and it’s fun, too!
: )
http://conniescrafts4kids.ning.com/
http://heathersheartfeltmemories.ning.com/
http://welcometosquidoo.ning.com/