[cma-l] NING GOES PREMIUM

[Cathy Aitchison]

So glad you told me about this, Steve.
Ning is/was such a good product in the not-for-profit world. Despite the
scant mainstream media attention, Ning has been widely used by
not-for-profit organisations, especially those working in community media /
social inclusion / digital participation etc.

I think Ning have underestimated the relative importance of the media
sharing element alongside the networking element. There are successful Ning
networks with just a handful of members, publishing good media for others
(incl non-members) to share. Ning's media loading and sharing systems are
excellent, allowing the items to be hosted on the network as well as
embedded. Apart from the fact that audio is refered to throughout as
'music', it's great, especially for a small project sharing short audio
items.
eg. see: http://rwradio.ning.com for our Refugee Week Radio network.

Ironically, Ning may at last get some of the mainstream media attention it
deserves - let's hope it can steer itself in the right direction before the
storm breaks.

Best wishes
Cathy
http://www.refugeeweekradio.net
http://www.londonlinkradio.net
http://www.aitchisonmedia.net


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Thompson, Steve" <S.D.Thompson at tees.ac.uk>
To: <cma-l at commedia.org.uk>
Sent: Sunday, April 18, 2010 8:41 AM
Subject: [cma-l] NING GOES PREMIUM


> Hello,
>
> I don't know how many community media folks have picked up on this yet but
> the twitterverse is abuzz with it.
>
> The social network NING is intending to go PREMIUM only. The announcement
> from the new CEO (whilst cutting the Ning workforce by 40%) seems quite
> stark, "pay for premium services or migrate off the network" Here is the
> latest more friendly announcement http://bit.ly/aqbpGN
>
>
> This seems a shame because the enclosed nature of Ning and it's multi 
> media
> capabilities seemed ideal for Community Media groups. Whilst I don't think
> any provider HAS to give their services for free this has been the 
> business
> model of NING for several years and they've built up a client base on the
> strength of it that they are now going to disenfranchise. I think they are
> likely to have a damaging backlash.
>
>
> Of course no-one said Ning is going away and all you have to do is pay 
> (not
> sure how much yet) to keep your network. However, I hear warning bells and
> I'm considering alternatives as are many people. I'm thinking of using
> BuddyPress with a Wordpress installation. I'll list some links below of
> alternatives other folks are suggesting.
>
> http://bit.ly/9UFlaR
>
> There is a google doc here http://bit.ly/bQzzQG (warning this might clog 
> up
> your browser)
>
> Steve T
>
> -- 
> Steve Thompson
> Community Media Manager
> Institute of Digital Innovation
> Teesside University
> M -  07795 826953
> E -  s.d.thompson at tees.ac.uk
> W - www.steve-thompson.org.uk
>
>
>
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