So I started playing around with Ning.com many months ago, but was having difficulty really understanding
how it could be used. Essentially it gives a lot of common Social Network functions like profiles, friends, blogs, photo and video upload etc.
to whomever wanted to start a social network. Well, with so many social networks already in the space (including dogs, cats and cars), I had trouble seeing the value, but found it interesting nonetheless.
Then along comes Googles announcement about OpenSocial and the power it will start to give social networks who utilize this API. Wow!
Now, non-programmers can create vertical social networks utilizing Ning and then populate those networks with compatible gadgets
developed by service providers like iLike and Flixster
just to name a few. Combine this with more business type ventures with LinkedIn and
Salesforce, and we might really be onto something, even if some just see it as
Google's way to fragment Facebook's social market value.
Enough about OpenSocial though, there have already been reams written about it. So onto this idea of vertical markets. I figured I needed to dive-in and create one of my own to just kind of see what all of this could be about. Thus the birth of MohawksRock.com a social network for fans of the Mohawk hairstyle. Yes, on occasion I will wear my hair in a giant 16" mohawk which puts me well over 8' tall and it does rock. Still, I figured this would be a very vertical use for a social network and a good experiment to figure out the power of Ning. After setting it up and getting a few friends to join it feels like its a newer tool for filling the community space that Yahoo! groups and other groups sites have filled. I think the addition of OpenSocial compatible gadgets is where we will see a lot of ingenuity. I'll be interested to know what Mohawks Rock! members think of movies and music that will most likely vary from large all-inclusive communities like IMDB.
Of course, while I was off creating a possibly fun but limited social network, Nick Tong went and started something potentially very useful on a professional basis in the Cold Fusion Community www.coldfusioncommunity.org based upon the Ning framework. He only got up about a week ago and there are 330+ members from all over the globe already joining and contributing. I've already had an opportunity to gleen information off of there. Its all familar tools, just bundled into this framework. It will be interesting to see what OpenSocial Gadgets will be available here. Do I want to know what movies everyone watches? Maybe? Do I want to know which Frameworks, Custom Tags and 3rd party apps my friends are testing and using? Absolutely.
1 comments - Posted by cheyennejack at 10:40 PM - Categories: ColdFusion | Social Networking
