After revealing that it was cutting off free networks a few weeks ago, Ning has finally announced its new pricing model, which kicks off in July.
Bottom Line: It’ll now cost you $200 a year to host a basic network on their service under the “Ning Plus” name. The cheaper version — at $20 a year — caps off members at 150, so is not useful for any serious community.
But even the $200 version is limited to 10 GB of storage, or “about 5,000 uploaded photos.”
The higher-end version goes for $500, but the storage only bumps up to “20 GB + upgrade.” It’s unclear what +upgrade means, but I suspect it will be a metering program, which will ding you for storage costs above 20 GB.
And if this is an offer you can refuse?
“When we launch the new pricing plans in July, we will add an automated content export option to the manage page of each Ning Network. You will have 30 days after the launch to choose one of the three new plans or export your content.”
Ning is using the Atom syndicated format but doesn’t provide any information on the level of detail you’ll be able to export.
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As a follow-up to last week’s post about reputation-based filtering, there’s a entire book (and blog) on the subject of building reputation-based systems, including the pitfalls, best-practices, and more.
Social networks have the benefit of built-in reputation: If someone’s a friend, there’s implicit trust. If they are a friend of a friend (in the LinkedIn model), that trust gets extended.
But maintaining the quality of content, interaction, and focus around the core subject of the community takes work, and reputation-based systems — even simple ones like invite-only communities — may be a worthwhile consideration for some social networks.
(via kylebragger).
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As millions of social network developers discovered last week when Ning pulled the plug on free networks, building a company around a single company’s free service has its risks.
If the company goes under, scraps its free service, or changes the rules of the game, you’re, well, Ninged.
So while I’m a big fan of Facebook Connect — and am intrigued by today’s new announcements — and the way niche social networks can leverage it to build traffic and ease the sign-up process, history suggests they’ve eventually go from friend to foe. (Anyone who’s had their app rejected by Apple’s App Store knows what it’s like to have court of appeal)
For that reason, among others, if you’re developing a niche social network, you need to pay attention to XAuth (and its cousin, OAuth).
Here’s how Read, Write, Web decribes how the two work together:
If you’re familiar with OAuth, you might be wondering what the difference is between that system of secure authentication and XAuth. Here’s one way to explain it: XAuth tells a webpage “this is where the site visitor does social networking.” Then, OAuth is the way the user logs in there, granting the site permission to access their info without seeing their password. In other words, XAuth tells you where to ask for OAuth from.
XAuth is an open platform for extending authenticated user services across the web. That means these platforms can help website owners (like you) discover which social networks a visitor to your site uses and prompt them automatically to log-in and share with friends on those network.
It’s like Facebook Connect, but for every other social network.
Google, Yahoo, MySpace, Meeb are in. Facebook and Twitter (who have their proprietary versions) are staying home.
While relying on Facebook and Twitter are easier in the short-term, it’s good strategy to play both sides of this authentication battle so you don’t end up on the losing side.
Update: Facebook just announced that they are adopting OAuth 2.0
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Just heard from Charlotte Genevier at SocialEngine that they are offering a $50 discount, good until the end of the month, to any displaced Ning customers looking to move to their platform.
The discount code is “ningmigrate”
She also tells me they are looking into building a Ning importer as soon as possible.
I expect this is the first of several moves as social network platform developers look to step in as Ning cuts so many networks loose.
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Ning has just announced it will be shifting its focus and resources exclusively to paid networks, leaving millions of free social networks in the lurch.
“We will phase out our free service. Existing free networks will have the opportunity to either convert to paying for premium services, or transition off of Ning,” new CEO Jason Rosenthal told staff.
No word yet on how much network creators will have to pay to stay on the service. John McDonald, vice-president of Advocacy at Ning says he’ll give creators more details within a couple of weeks.
The problem for networks is that the ability to “transition off of Ning” is limited. At best you can get member names and some basic profile information, but you will lose the rich content and interactions members have created. That’s the true price of free.
It will be interesting to see over the next couple of weeks how hard Ning tightens the screws on the free networks, and whether they make migration easier or demand payment to preserve content.
Meanwhile, I’m sure free alternatives to Ning will be making some noise.
If you found this blog post helpful, then you'll love the hundreds of tips, real-life examples, and proven strategies that you'll find in my Hands-on Guide to Starting a Niche Social Network!
Click here to learn more!
If you found this blog post helpful, then you'll love the hundreds of tips, real-life examples, and proven strategies that you'll find in my Hands-on Guide to Starting a Niche Social Network!
Click here to learn more!
If you found this blog post helpful, then you'll love the hundreds of tips, real-life examples, and proven strategies that you'll find in my Hands-on Guide to Starting a Niche Social Network!
Click here to learn more!
According to a report released in April 2009 by The Nielsen Company, “Becoming a mother is a dramatic inflection point and drives women to the Web in search of advice and a desire to connect with others in their shoes.”
Does this mean a social networking site for mothers is the way to go?
I’d urge you to think even more focused. “Mothers” isn’t a niche. Sure being a mother has its challenges, but look for more specific shared challenges.
A great example of a niche within the broader category of “mothers?”
NavyforMoms.com a site developed by the US Navy for mothers who have kids serving in the Navy.
Does this fit my definition of a niche social network?
A group of people passionate about a shared experience, situation, goal, or pastime, but who don’t have an existing venue to easily connect with one another.
Here’s the answer in a post by one happy member that pretty much says the same thing:
“I have been on this site for over a year now. The support and love here is something I can’t get in my personal life. Other then my own family most people just don’t understand what it is like to have children (young men and women) in the Navy or any branch of the military… That’s why I wanted to thank every mom, dad, girlfriend and grandmother on this site. It is such a blessing to have someone to talk to that is going though the same feelings and problems that you are.”
With nearly 33,000 members, the site has found a solid niche where members are facing a shared experience, one that is no doubt filled with confusion, fear, and a real need to connect with others going through the same situation.
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Passions may seem like an obvious source when you’re looking for the focus of your social network but my definition of a niche social network goes further than that:
A group of people passionate about a shared experience, situation, goal, or pastime,
but who don’t have an existing venue to easily connect with one another.
Think about your experiences for a moment.
Is there something you’ve been through (or are still going through) that would have been easier to endure if you had a community of people around you who knew what you were dealing with?
Nothing brings people together like a common enemy: Health problems, money issues, family conflicts, and other personal challenges can all be a solid foundation for a vibrant community.
If you think people won’t go online looking for solutions to these painful, personal issues, think again: According to an iCrossing report from 2008, while 55% of adults seek health and wellness information from their physicians, 59% use internet-based resources, including web sites, search engines, online advertisements, blogs, forums, and social networks.
PatientsLikeMe is an example of a social network tapping into this need to connect in a broad sense, as is In The Rooms, a social network for people in recovery, but I’d suggest you dig even deeper into specific issues, ailments, and conditions to find new opportunities.
The New York Times ran a great piece a while ago about how the chronically ill — people battling everything from MS to Lupus — are finding solace through niche social networks.
People fighting chronic illnesses are less likely than others to have Internet access, but once online they are more likely to blog or participate in online discussions about health problems, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and the California HealthCare Foundation.
You see, topic-based social networking isn’t always as strong as challenge-focused social networks. Here’s what I mean: Joining a social network to connect with other baseball fans (a topic), for example, is nice. Joining a social network to connect with others who are coping with a debilitating illness (a challenge) is more urgent.
These people aren’t looking for a simple distraction, they are desperately looking for information, support, and a sense of community that they likely can’t find anywhere else.
So while you may think of social networks as fun time-wasters, consider the huge potential of connecting people with common ailments, burdens, or challenges.
If you found this blog post helpful, then you'll love the hundreds of tips, real-life examples, and proven strategies that you'll find in my Hands-on Guide to Starting a Niche Social Network!
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When many people set about starting a social networking site and comparing social networking software, they often get caught up in Feature Creep.
Thinking that more is always better, they try and cram every possible feature — videos, blogging, RSS feeds, music, etc. — into their social networking site.
The funny thing is that even the people who create feature-rich social networking platforms don’t think this is a good idea.
“The main problem with feature overload is not technical – that can be handled,” says Andrew Boon, director at Boonex, makers of Dolphin. “The real problem is UI [user interface] complexity and distractions, especially on the first stages when there’s no content in some areas. ”
A good example is Google Buzz. It has all the bells and whistles, with 10 times the features of Twitter. But it’s not easy to use, doesn’t solve any real problem, and pales in comparison to Twitter in usefulness, ease of use, and popularity.
Twitter does one thing, with limitations, and it does it well. It wouldn’t be a better product if it allowed 300 characters. Its limitations are its strengths.
Boon uses the example of a community site for soccer fans. “The site needs Events and Forum sections first, and Featured Profiles for team players. Videos/photos sharing for sharing memorable moments . That means just a few modules, a simple homepage and clear site purpose message [or unique selling proposition].”
If you starts adding extra features, your users will either get lost and don’t know where to start, or their activity will be limited to a section they are comfortable with, which in turn dilutes the content and slows viral growth.
New features may have a place, especially if members request them, but add them slowly and when there is overwhelming need (not the first time you get a request).
“Some people still think that providing more options is the way to attract attention,” says Boon. “I believe that the Internet is at the stage when there are already too many options. We need things that do less, but do it better.”
Another common trap social networks fall into is slavishly following Facebook or some other existing site whenever they introduce any new feature or design.
“Our customers consistently want to emulate the innovations rolled out by the big social network players. When Facebook releases a new feature, we usually see an abrupt influx of requests for that feature,” SocialEngine‘s Charlotte Genevier told me in a recent interview. “However, our team always considers these requests critically since features deployed on huge social networks like Facebook don’t always translate well to smaller niche networks.”
So start your social networking site with the core features members need to interact with whatever the focus of the site is, and each other. Then listen carefully and observe their behavior to see where you can add smart social networking features that engage users and encourage activity.
If you found this blog post helpful, then you'll love the hundreds of tips, real-life examples, and proven strategies that you'll find in my Hands-on Guide to Starting a Niche Social Network!
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