Ning: What's it good for?

May 6, 2009 7:00 PM

Ning: What's it good for?

I've been asked to do some research for work, mainly into social networking for our company (hence the anonyme). One site that management has expressed an interest in is ning.com. I've looked at it in another situation for another group in the near past, but I'm running up against the same issue I had before, which is that I can't figure out what is so great about ning (which strikes me as roll-your-own facebook) as opposed to any other site you might network on (Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo). So, if you use ning, what do you use it for? What drew you there? What do you like about it?

posted by anonymous to computers & internet (10 comments total)

I am a member of a Ning community. It is a medical device site, and they seem to think it's secure. We get to network internationally with other users of the device. I will say many people prefer to give minimal identifying info. I don't know if it's because of the nature of the site. Some people have all their info. out there. We had to get an invite from the company and they had to approve to become a member. So, heavily regulated. FWIW, they are supposed to be changing their site soon. (I don't know why). Have I used the site? Meh, not that impressed.
posted by 6:1 at 7:17 PM on May 6

It is roll your own Facebook, which is great if you have a specialized community (see this one on conflict resolution). A little bit more formalism than a Facebook group, with much more moderation, easily embedded video, subgroups, etc. A step down from Drupal, with free hosting and a lot easier to roll yourself.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 7:24 PM on May 6

Facebook and the other social networking sites I've seen are primarily about individual connections. Ning sites are about a group formed around shared interest or affiliation.

In contrast with a Facebook group, a group Ning site serves as a separate website, which I think gives it a more independent feel. For forum-type communication in particular I've noticed it works better than the one-thread style of Facebook groups; in addition, it lets you have sub-groups and sub-networks indicating connections within the company.

I think your description of it as a roll-your-own Facebook is pretty close; it's a social network only for people at the company. So the pictures you post of the company picnic are only visible to people who were there, by default. Some of these things you could work-around on Facebook (I don't really know Plaxo, and I thought LinkedIn was entirely for individual connections with an eye towards networking so I'm not sure how that applies here). But why not use the tool that was created with this application in mind?

I've used a few ning sites, although I'm not a network creator myself which is what "using ning" calls to mind. The quality of the sites varies of course, but I really like the ability to share information easily and be grouped on many levels.
posted by Lady Li at 7:40 PM on May 6

Yeah, it is a roll your own facebook.
I joined one after I was invited by an existing member. Mine is a young professionals for my city. We just find events to attend and hang out. So far so good.
posted by special-k at 8:21 PM on May 6

that would be young professionals network
posted by special-k at 8:22 PM on May 6

I use Ning for a job where I'm one of a group writers hired from across North America to contribute opinion pieces on a series of given topics. Ning is good for that since it's a closed system and our pieces stay pretty confidential. But I confess I find the interface hella annoying. I wouldn't use it for my own social networking needs- it's less fun to use than Friendster, MySpace, or Facebook are/were.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 8:49 PM on May 6

BTW -- announced today...

Ning Opens Up More to Developers

"Social-network creator Ning is letting those networks get even more customized: it's unveiled Ning Apps, the company's full plunge into the developer platform craze. It goes into private beta on Thursday and will launch in full later in May."

posted by ericb at 8:50 PM on May 6

I'm an active member of We Make Zines, a zining community. Ning is important for this sect in that zines are primarily an offline medium and culture, and this site in particular has become popular enough to be a central online hub in the zining world.

Basically, ning has helped us connect with each other in easier ways, but still allowed us to do our own thing off the internet (i.e. getting peoples addresses and then following up contact through the mail).

For more info on why it is used as opposed to facebook, see the homepage of We Make Zines.
posted by saxamo at 10:10 PM on May 6

Ning is good when you want to have a self-contained community. Some friends and I use it for our group of friends -- helps us keep track of events, photos, quotes, etc.
posted by Afroblanco at 12:23 AM on May 7

We launched Pilots, an online community for explainers in European science museums using Ning. It has worked really well so far, as a way of sharing information and resources, and keeping in touch with each other. It helps that most of the people doing this are around the 20-35 age range, and always keen to share ideas.
posted by creeky at 1:24 AM on May 7