The midden

Ning is a social networking site created in 2004 by Marc Andreessen, the founder of the Netscape browser and Gina Bianchini.

The main features of Ning are:

• it is easy to set up (you can be up and running in a couple of minutes)
• it is free (although you can pay to have the Google ads removed and for premier services such as more space, your own ads, your own domain name)
• it is highly customisable with a good selection of themes and options
• anyone within your network can set up a group (so, for example, you could set up a network for your course, e.g. Year 1 English, and invite all your students to join. Each of them could then set up a group within this network which others could join, e.g. Shakespeare appreciation society group, Creative writing group.)
• Flickr pictures can be embedded
• YouTube videos can be embedded
• you have a blog (which you can allow everyone to see, only your friends, or only you)
• there is a discussion forum
• as network creator you have full control over what goes on in your network (you control who has access, you can remove individuals)
• you can broadcast messages to everyone in your network quickly
• you can view stats and trends, i.e. what areas of your network are popular

Ning is about collaborating, sharing and communicating. I set up this site in less than 10 minutes (if you visit it please leave a comment on the Comment Wall so it looks like I’ve got some friends).

This site works. Set a network up and see for yourself.