Networking is something we take for granted now but is it possible to create your own social networking site? We review a website that does just that and find out just how it works.
If you’re fed up with Facebook or tired of MySpace then maybe it’s time you started your own social networking website!
That’s right! Instead of being one of the herd start your own site and maybe become the next LiveJournal or Friendster. All you need is a subject, some imagination, a few friends to start you off, a little time to get going and you can be up and running in no time.
And, what’s more, there’s no coding of websites, no steep learning curve and definitely no capital required – it can all be done for free! For a look at what others have already done, open the main page of the url below which belongs to Ning
This website is not a network site itself, rather it’s a clever idea that acts as a container and also a template for people to create social networking sites. To give you an idea, find the search box located in the bottom third of the front page and put in a search term to find some communities. As I also write about open source software, I entered ‘open source’.
The results page will give you an idea of the number of people who have already formed their own communities – for open source there were over 2000 websites. A look at some of these websites will give you a taste of the facilities that are on offer and the scope of the idea.
If you then sign up, you can use the Ning facilities to create a networking site and then customise it to reflect your own and the group’s character. Try some other search terms and have a look at the communities that have been created to help you get a feel for what is possible and maybe collect some ideas for your own website.
As you go through, note that there are countless sites already on Ning some of which are obviously successful and thriving communities and some of which are not but there are also sites that are clearly only intended for a limited audience. So it is quite permissible to create a private community for just a circle of friends to hang out together and discuss topics just relevant to themselves.
Although on this occasion we did not create a site, it seemed to us that the mechanics of it were easy and well thought out and this is obvious from the number of sites already created.
The only difficult area is that of finding an idea and then producing some of the content in order to get started. However, if you are an ideas person then the sky could well be the limit!
Physically creating the site is almost like creating your own page on any networking site and most of the features are set using a management page that allows you to add sections, change the colour scheme and general look and also the layout of modules.
Should your community be successful and later you want to progress to a bigger and more commercial site then Ning is able to cater for that too, and a special non-free commercial section is also available.
To learn more about Ning and see how suitable it is for you go to the ‘Help’ section. Unfortunately, there was not, when we looked, a link on the main page but the url is below.
Here you will get some idea of what is involved and what you can do. Further down the page is a link to various articles about social networking which are well worth reading and digesting for a fuller picture.
We also recommend that you try the ‘Ning Workshop’ tips and tricks from the right hand menu in the ‘Help’ section for a very well written set of articles that cover starting and using a Ning website.
We thought this was an excellent site and well worth a look whether you have ambitions to create your own site or if you just want to see what communities exist in your field of interest. We therefore gave it a full and prominent bookmark.
Wed, May 13, 2009, by Mike Taperell
Social Networks