How to set up your own Social Network with Ning

Ning is an online platform that allows its users to create their own Social Network and join Social Networks created by other members within the site. This service is free and very easy to use. This online platform has pretty much the same features as other Social Networks such as MySpace and Facebook. Some of the features available are blogs, forums, groups, and of course you can add videos, photos, widgets and profile customization. By creating your own Social Network you can build an online community of people who share the same interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.

You can use it to:

• Engage coworkers, friends, and family
• Connect to other departments within your organization and globally
• Post projects and project team members so the entire company is kept informed
• Allow individual blogging, discussions, groups
• Share videos, photos, and messaging
• Socially-engage - interact with others that have similar interests

Here is a video that gives you a quick look on how to set up your own Social Network in Ning.


Ning also offers some premium services such as domain name, remove Ning promotional links, remove ads or control the ads that appear on your site, and space and bandwidth upgrades for a small fee.
This is a great service, and if you're looking to start your own Social Network I really recommend you look into Ning.
Ning anyone?

My kind of Social Network

For those Web 2.0 fanatics like me out there... if there is any book you buy it should be Blogs, Wikis, and More by Terry Burrows. The book categorizes the different types of technology, provides a list of the most popular sites in each category and explains them in plain English. It also gives you steps on how to use at least one application in each category and gives you tons of sites. It's my kind of book. It's also a great guide for those that are starting to learn and work with Web 2.0 applications.

MySpace

I haven't read the entire book but I went through most of the categories, and looked at some of the sites and I've already have about 20 applications that I want to test so stay tuned to this blog for updates.

Now knowing me, I had to at least try one today. The one that peeked my interest was Singshot.com, it was in the Music category and it's classified as a Karaoke Social Network. OK you got me, I admit I'm a singer wanna be.... Not that I can sing but I still hurried over to the website to look around and of course ended up creating an account.

To my surprise the site was much more than just a Karaoke Social Network. You can also record yourself telling a story, doing stand up comedy, and even poetry reading. All you need is a working microphone and a webcam if you want to record the picture as well but that's optional. You can also create mashups.

I was ready to record a clip of myself singing but unfortunately I can't find my microphone but trust me, you'll have the option to hear me soon enough. I will continue to look for that microphone : )

As any Social Network, you can make your clips public and allow other members to comment and rate your performance. Boy, there are a lot of people that have a very nice voice.... but also a lot that don't :(

It looks like the site changed URLs after the book was published because Singshot.com directs me to The Sims on Stage but who cares, the site is great and it's lots of fun.

Is there an instructional use? Well I think so, maybe not in Corporate America but I can see a teacher using this in school. Children can write their own stories or poetry and create videos to share with classmates and in turn their classmates can rate their work. Works for me.

If you come up with any uses for corporate training let me know....

So sing and write away!