I have known about Ning for a while. I even belong to two of their many networks. It is a great service for people to create a social network for free on almost whatever topic they would like to. They are over 2000 networks that where created through Ning. There are sites for 1 job posting at a company to college students talking about undergraduate leadership.
It’s no secret that having a strong online presence is vital in today’s job market — especially for Millennials — and that the first step in creating that presence is to build profiles on the “big three” social networks: Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. There are countless articles outlining how these sites are going to take over the world, and they may not be entirely wrong, but these social-media behemoths are not the be-all and end-all of online interaction. Some of my best relationships and opportunities have come from small, topic-specific social networks.
As for Ning being the social networking site of the future, time will tell. I think that it would be hard for it to be the network of the future because there are so many social networks already. They have only started up in October of 2005. Don’t get me wrong I think that it is a great site but people will belong to many social networks at once. That can make thing very complicated. Even though you use the same username and password to get on all the sites, you may not know what networks you belong to. If you belong to many networks at once this can become very confusing.
There are thousands of communities out there for every hobby, career, culture and interest. One of my personal favorites is 20-Something Bloggers, a place for bloggers like myself to meet online and share ideas. I also recommend Snooth for learning about wine, GoodReads for connecting with other bookish types, and Imeem for sharing a love of music.
If, for some reason, you’re not able to find the community you’re looking for, start your own! Sites like Ning allow you to build your own highly interactive social networks, complete with forums, chat, events, etc. Then, not only will you have an awesome network of people, you’ll have become an entrepreneur in the process.
There are many different communities. I think that this may take on within the next year or two. I think that as of right now there are some draw backs to the Ning right now. They have just recently decided that they would open their network up to developers. It is the best way for someone to create a specific network for one’s hobby or if a company is looking to fill a much needed position but do not want to go through the regular application process.
-John Botch
Laserburnmedia.com
john@laserburnmedia.com
