ChaseNation, a social network built on Ning
I didn't exactly "get" Ning
when I first experimented with it a year ago because I didn't see how
scattered individuals could collectively develop Web 2.0 social
networks. I watched others invite me to their Ning networks and noticed
they were floundering in developing a network of essentially unrelated
individuals. So my first impression was Ning allowed Facebook-like
groups to create their own networks outside Facebook, but I questioned
who in the group would actually set up the network on Ning and manage
it when so many other social networks were vying for attention.
I was reintroduced to Ning recently by a Fast Company article that explains Ning's successful exponential growth with the fact that each social network Ning creates attracts multiple members joining them:
Conclusion:
Blog networks like WCRblogs.com certainly can use the social networking features Ning has to offer. The Women's Council of Realtors, already an extensive network, is ideal for a social network because its non-bloggers can also participate. Groups created along geographic lines or functions can be generated, and tagged photo/video sharing round out a feature set that would hopefully be compelling enough to pull more WCR members into Web 2.0.
A couple of detracting features:
I was reintroduced to Ning recently by a Fast Company article that explains Ning's successful exponential growth with the fact that each social network Ning creates attracts multiple members joining them:
The company estimates that, at this rate, by New Year's Eve 2010 it will host some 4 million social networks, with tens of millions of members, serving up billions of page views daily.It took a visual example for me to "get " Ning. ChaseNation (h/t to FoREM and WAVGroup) did it. I realized that indeed individuals like Diane Cohn who developed ChaseNation, could run with the Ning vision and create a localized social network. Social networks and blog networks are similar... social networks have more features for non-bloggers and are open to everybody. Blog networks, essentially an aggregation of blogs, are open only to bloggers, but should incorporate social networking features for their members.
| Social Network | Blog Network | |
| Membership | Open to everybody - agents, consumers, anybody | Open like Active Rain (which is also a social network) or closed like WCRblogs.com |
| Blogs | Blogs created on Ning platform - not on individual domain names | Individual blogs aggregated into a network |
| Groups | Groups can be created on the fly | n/a |
| Forums | Ning's discussions are similar to blogs with commenting | n/a |
| Photos and videos | Uploadable slideshows and videos in separate galleries | n/a |
Conclusion:
Blog networks like WCRblogs.com certainly can use the social networking features Ning has to offer. The Women's Council of Realtors, already an extensive network, is ideal for a social network because its non-bloggers can also participate. Groups created along geographic lines or functions can be generated, and tagged photo/video sharing round out a feature set that would hopefully be compelling enough to pull more WCR members into Web 2.0.
A couple of detracting features:
- ChaseNation's bloggers don't own blogs under their own domain name, so bloggers won't control their content if they leave ChaseNation.
- Since social networks allow anybody to join, reader must filter for relevant information. Blog networks direct reader to blogs.
This could be another way to create "Wikis" about your area! Great info!
Reply to this
Pat, thanks for the mention. And yes, you are correct that one possible downside for an agent blogger contributing to a group effort like Chase Nation is that contributions do live under the broker's domain.
So here's the workaround. If you're a Chase agent with your own blog, then post a couple of teaser paragraphs on Chase Nation and link directly to your blog for the rest of the story. If you create compelling content, this will bring potential clients into your world, where they will hopefully become fans of your online asset... your blog. We encourage Chase agent bloggers to use Chase Nation as a traffic gateway to drive eyeballs to their sites.
Another thing to note: if an agent leaves the company, they can log onto Chase Nation and completely remove themselves and all their associated content from the site with just a couple clicks... a very cool Ning feature. If they want to take their content with them, they just need to copy-paste it somewhere before deleting themselves.
Reply to this
The cut and paste from original blog to ChaseNation is a good workaround, similar to some Active Rain participants. Frankly, if the agent leaves the company, it's probably best just to stay on ChaseNation because it's a kind of online habitat. It all tits into the traffic gateway metaphor, and that's probably the most important utility. Just great!
Reply to this