Q46: What to do about Ning

[Heidi Cool]

When we first heard that Ning was doing away with it's free network option, network admins around the world began worrying what to do. Many of us in #smchat use Ning networks for various purposes, and we also use it as our home base for the #smchat group. So the issue is one of interest to us both generally and specifically.

For this week's session, I wrote up a framing post, Should we stay or should we go? Responding to Ning’s new pricing plans, which poses the following questions:

• Q46A: What should we consider when a service changes or goes away?
• Q46B: The costs of maintaining community: remain on Ning or move.
• Q46C: Knowing that free services may disappear, is it worth it to rely on them?
• Q46D: What opportunities does the elimination of free Ning networks offer to others?

Here is the transcript of the chat: May 5, 2010 Q46 What to do about Ning - #smchat transcript.

My conclusion from the chat was that we should worry less about the costs and more about our actual needs. Networks should re-assess the goals they have for their sites, review how Ning has performed in relation to those goals, determine what other needs they may have, then choose a platform suitable to their purpose. In some cases this will be Ning, in others it could be something else entirely.

Thus, we need to also do that for #smchat. To do that we need your feedback. What do you expect from this site? Currently we use it mostly to post questions and framing blogs and to archive the transcripts. But users also get personal profiles, in system e-mail and other options.

Is the current site working for you? Would you use it more if it had different features? Would you use these features more if we worked on content to help keep you involved between chats? What do you need from our website?

Once we pin this down we can decided what the most appropriate option will be. If we end up choosing Ning or a different paid solution we may also be seeking funding. So let us know if you'd be willing to chip in a few bucks or if you'd be interested in being a sponsor for the site.

We look forward to your input!