So, if you are wondering what’s after Facebook and LinkedIn and PHPBB forums . . . . let me give you a clue - I believe it’s called “Ning” and this is image above is my profile page on Wired Journalists - one of the Ning communites I am a member of. Making your profile sing is just one of the things that Ning does well.
I would compare the Ning solution to giving away an “Instant interactive community” platform as good as any Apple-design approach to a product. Which is to take something that is already out there and make it 10 times better.
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1) Put the user experience first
2) Make it so you don’t have to know any programming code
3) Above all make the time spent with the product a thrill
I have launched a few of these for Ning social network sites for clients over the last couple of months and I have to tell you - it’s drop dead easy to do.
OK, easy for me you say (And this is certainly a lot easier than it was four years ago when I had to take a crash course in PHP just to to install the forums software to build out Visual Editors.) but you can build a Ning site too.
One nice thing about the Ning is that the more people that join a Ning community - the easier it is to get them to join the community you are starting because they will already be registered.
If you are looking to build a forums sandbox or have never built out a Web service to connect people in a community before - you have try this one out. No geek degree required . . . and it is easily 10 times better than Facebook Groups.
If you are a little more Web savvy, Ruby on Rails or Symphony allow for quick deployment of online communities with extreme customization on functionality.
I’m loving the app so far.
We’ve started a network for the SportsDesigner fans.
http://sportsdesigner.ning.com/
It seems that the forum functionality of ning is lacking. I’m looking for a way to combine my existing 1000 user phpbb site into a ning community.