If you haven’t yet heard of Ning, it is an online platform that allows users to create their own social network. Ning essentially bundles several separate technologies into a single unified, hosted platform. The technologies include, a blog, wiki, forum, photo/video gallery, micro feed, events calendar, member management and more. Ning was launched in 2005 and its original intent was to rival MySpace. The idea was to go beyond the basic online presence and encourage interaction through customized portals which would allow ideas and interests to be shared.
In the past few months Ning has undergone many changes. For starters, new CEO Jason Rosenthal announced that Ning would no longer offer a free service. Ning had previously been free to use (provided you met bandwidth requirements), relying strictly on advertising money. The company also laid off 69 of the 167 employees. Apparently the dramatic changes have had a positive effect on the company, since they were recognized by Lead411 as one of the “Hottest Silicon Valley Companies” in June 2010.
Currently, Ning competes with MySpace, Facebook and BigTent by appealing to people who want to create their own social networks. The Ning platform is much different than Facebook and MySpace because you create a social network based on a topic, and you have the ability to customize the design, features and member data of your network. Ning is most similar to BigTent because both focus on creating portals (or networks) for groups. However, BigTent focuses more on parenting groups, school groups, alumni groups, and neighborhood groups, while Ning seems to appeal to many different types of ideas, hobbies and groups.
Here are some advantages to Ning:
1) Cost: Free to sign up for a basic account
2) Easy to use: It is very easy to set up a new social network within Ning. Templates can be easily customized to your style, and more advanced users can even modify the CSS of their network.
3) Features: Ning offers a variety of widgets and tools for you to customize your social network. It’s much more than a blog.
Here are some disadvantages of Ning:
1) Cost: As of April 2010, those who host communities now have to pay for premium membership. This used to be free. Also, to control the ads displayed on your social network you need to pay a fee. However, as you can see in the advantages section, Ning is free to join for a basic user.
2) Ownership rights: Ning owns the right and title to all the intellectual property. Technically once you join Ning and build social network on Ning you no longer own the network. In other words, it is not an asset you can sell.
3) Transfer of data (or lack thereof): Ning is a hosted solution, and it is maintained by Ning for free. However, it is extremely difficult to migrate any users or content to other platforms because there is no API bridge, exporting, or migration tools available.
The bottom line:
Ning is geared more toward hobbyists, groups and organizations that are more interested in bringing people together to collaborate about a topic then create demand for a product or service. Ning seems best suited for fans, groupies, music or TV lovers, or organizations to discuss the latest news about an artist, TV show, game, group, or movie. I see some value in Ning for non-profits as well. However, for small businesses and corporations, who are concerned about ROI, Ning may not be worth the time. It would be a better investment for small businesses and corporations to focus on consistently blogging and driving traffic to their website.
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About The Author: Tom Sullivan is the senior account executive at Turbo Social Media. He has managed accounts for a wide variety of businesses, from small “Mom and Pop” businesses to multi-million dollar corporations. His success in business stems from his entrepreneurial drive and his desire to do “whatever it takes” for his clients to be successful.
Tom received his BA in Business Management Economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz. He is a former collegiate rugby player and he enjoys playing softball, golfing, camping, and snowboarding in his spare time. 
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