Ning

Ning was VERY quick and easy to set up. It seems as if it has many advantages.

Some of the advantages are that with Ning you can:

• subscribe to an RSS feed
• add pictures and videos
• create blog posts and have discussions
• create groups within your network
• invite people to join an event
• broadcast messages
• add badges and widgets
• create applications that can be placed on Facebook accounts
• add different features such as a chat, music, notes, and text box features
• add web analytic software
• can import pictures from flikr

I can definitely see the advantages of using this within a work environment. By using Ning with your company you could:

• Reach everyone if company has many locations
• Centralize your information
• Create slide shows of company pictures/happenings
• Share insights, motivate employees, find support
• Advertise upcoming events
• Use to create a community for your customers or announce new items
• Customize site to meet your company's needs
• It runs on a programmable platform

Some disadvantages are:

• Staff could possibly spend excess time on site which could be a problem if using during work hours
• Some staff may not be computer savvy enough to use some features
• Consumers may not have knowledge of site or may have trouble navigating site
• Have to pay for upgrades
• It has ads
• It has limited storage

I think that, as far as I have seen, Ning looks like it would definitely be useful in the workplace. I enjoy the layout and page "skins" and it gives you some great creative options in order to customize it. It has a lot of extras that can be added, which is good and many features that people are already using elsewhere. I would like to look at this more and explore more options for its use.

What Makes Services Like MySpace or Facebook "Sticky"?

According to Wikipedia, Sticky content refers to content published on a website, which has the purpose of getting a user to return to that particular website or hold their attention and get them to spend longer periods of time at that site. Both MySpace and Facebook have achieved this and have actually become quite addictive to many that use them. They spend many hours during the day not only looking up, looking through, and checking things out on the site, but they also make multiple return trips to the site.


I believe this is so because they offer a space that you can make your own. You can change the layout and the "skin" of it and add various widgets and applications that you like. In checking out both sites, I found myself, who truly believes that MySpace and Facebook should be left to the young, looking for things that I could add because they have so many different things to customize your page. You can find games to add, music to add, videos, and pictures to add. You can add friends that you already have or find friends that you haven't spoken to in ages.


I think most of the appeal to teenagers is that they have a place they can make all their own. No one tells them what they can or cannot put on it or what it has to look like. It is a virtual hangout and a place where they can be themselves or, for good or bad, whoever they want to be. They can share their music and pictures and "talk" with their friends. They can play games either by themselves or with others. They return often to see what their friends have added to their wall or what comments they have made on something they wrote.


Overall, I agree that they are both very "sticky" sites that do make you want to keep coming back. It is those little extras that have you saying to yourself, "well, let me just check it ONE more time before I shut down the computer." I also think that the fact that other people are constantly on and off these sites also makes you look to see who is there and what they are adding to their pages, or to yours. These sites also link to just about everything you could want to do online, which makes it very easy to use. It's like "one stop shopping" which makes it very addictive. You can go to these sites, have fun, and interact with others, while still doing what you want to do.