<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="0.92">
<channel>
	<title>Tips, resources, and strategies for starting and marketing your own social networking site.</title>
	<link>http://www.startasocialnetwork.com</link>
	<description>Tips, resources, and strategies for starting and marketing your own social networking site.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:05:22 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<docs>http://backend.userland.com/rss092</docs>
	<language>en</language>
	<!-- generator="WordPress/3.0" -->

	<item>
		<title>SocialEngine 4.0 Updates</title>
		<description><![CDATA[SocialEngine 4.0 was released earlier this month, and its new Software Development Kit (SDK) is also out. Next out is the SE3 to SE4 upgrade script. Charlotte Genevier at Webligo tells me that it should be out in a couple of weeks. Given that 4.0 is a complete redesign and restructuring of the previous versions, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.startasocialnetwork.com/blog/2010/07/23/socialengine-4/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The Value of Invites</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For many new social networks, an invitation-only approach makes a lot of sense. Not only can you focus on developing the community and its interactions, but when properly done you can also create a real demand for invitations. Now, Dribble, a social network where designers, developers and other creatives can share samples of their current [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.startasocialnetwork.com/blog/2010/07/22/the-value-of-invites/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Elgg Set to Offer Hosted Social Network Solution</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Curverider, the company behind the Elgg open source social networking software, will begin sending beta invites for their hosted social networking service, Elgg.com, on June 14th. This is a paid service, with monthly subscriptions start at $29.95, competing head-to-head with Ning. Unlike Ning, Elgg.com will feature a full export tool, letting site owners who want [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.startasocialnetwork.com/blog/2010/06/03/elgg-set-to-offer-hosted-social-network-solution/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Getting privacy policies and controls right</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Facebook gets a lot of grief for their privacy gaffes, and for the clumsy way of rolling out new features that impact privacy, but they are also an important model to understand for any social networking site dealing with their own privacy policies and privacy settings. This is obvious when you look at this great [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.startasocialnetwork.com/blog/2010/05/13/privacy-policies-for-social-networking-sites/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Ning Releases New Pricing Model</title>
		<description><![CDATA[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&#8217;ll now cost you $200 a year to host a basic network on their service under the &#8220;Ning Plus&#8221; name. The cheaper version &#8212; at $20 a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.startasocialnetwork.com/blog/2010/05/04/ning-releases-new-pricing-model/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Reputations on social networks</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As a follow-up to last week&#8217;s post about reputation-based filtering, there&#8217;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&#8217;s a friend, there&#8217;s implicit trust. If they are a friend of a friend (in the LinkedIn [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.startasocialnetwork.com/blog/2010/04/21/reputations-on-social-networks/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Why social networking sites need to pay attention to XAuth</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As millions of social network developers discovered last week when Ning pulled the plug on free networks, building a company around a single company&#8217;s free service has its risks. If the company goes under, scraps its free service, or changes the rules of the game, you&#8217;re, well, Ninged. So while I&#8217;m a big fan of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.startasocialnetwork.com/blog/2010/04/21/why-social-networking-sites-need-to-pay-attention-to-xauth/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>SocialEngine offers migration discount to Ning castaways</title>
		<description><![CDATA[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 &#8220;ningmigrate&#8221; She also tells me they are looking into building a Ning importer as soon as possible. I expect [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.startasocialnetwork.com/blog/2010/04/15/socialengine-offers-migration-discount-to-ning-castaways/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Ning leaves free social networks hanging</title>
		<description><![CDATA[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. &#8220;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,&#8221; new CEO Jason [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.startasocialnetwork.com/blog/2010/04/15/ning-leaves-free-social-networks-hangin/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Best advice ever on starting a social networking website</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Jeff Jarvis (via Ad Sales Blog) shares a great anecdote that makes a crucial point about creating social networking sites: &#8230;a powerful newspaper publisher beseeched Mark Zuckerberg, the young founder of the hugely successful social network Facebook, for advice on how he could build and own his community. The famously laconic Zuckerberg replied “You can’t.” [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.startasocialnetwork.com/blog/2010/04/15/advice-on-how-to-start-a-social-networking-website/</link>
			</item>
</channel>
</rss>
