Ways to Disrupt a Community

After four days of the Grasshoppers group on Facebook, I’ve thrown a curveball. I’ve built a Grasshoppers group on the up and coming open-faced social network system, Ning. It’s only been four days, and people are all frustrated. They’re saying, “Why mess with something good?” And yet, at the same time, there’s a swirl of conversation about how Facebook isn’t playing very Web 2.0.

But here’s the thing: another reason why I stirred things up was to point out quickly that the group isn’t made because of facebook. The group is made because people agreed with the idea and they wanted to be part of something. It’s not about the bike, as Lance Armstrong said years ago. It’s about the people.

Humans at Ning

It’s harder to invite people in a big bundle on Ning. I griped about this on Twitter, and Tim Shey (a personal superhero of mine) said I should get in touch with Gina at Ning. One quick email later, and Gina explained within moments of me sending the mail that Ning was working on a new method to import groups / invite lots of folks, and that in the interim, she volunteered one of her staff (!!!) to help me add names 20 at a time, if I so chose.

Huh? Imagine! She’s not just saying, “Them’s the breaks, kid.” She’s offering me human resources to help out.

Web 2.0

Ning uses RSS everywhere. You can add modules really easily, but more interestingly, you can get the info back OUT of the platform and into a reader, at your leisure, however you want to slice it. It’s about bringing the information to where I want it, not walling it in.

Features

Ning offers tons of , including an open API. UPDATE: David from Ning (responsive again!) commented that Ning offers an open API, and he even points us to a great description here.

Facebook Has the Mass

Facebook has the bodies. With all of us writing about it all the time, and with it really being an interesting place to communicate, I’ll grant that. Facebook will trump Ning for their who’s who of engaged Internet-friendly types landing on the platform, not to mention the high school and college crowd piling in there, too. I grant that.

Ning isn’t LinkedIN or Facebook

But neither is the Grasshoppers group a software application. We’re people. I have a hunch. I think I’ll lose some people in these turbulent days. I think lots of the Facebookers who just said yes for no reason won’t come over. However, as 100 people logged into the conference call yesterday (and several dozen more just couldn’t make it due to the time of day), I think we’ve got an engaged group interested in the idea.

Will it blend? I sure hope so.

One last thing: I wouldn’t have even thought much about the software platform being interchangeable were it not for Eric Rice, who’s creating Saijo City as an idea that crosses over whatever platform he wants. You can blame Eric for bending my mind out of shape, and it not being able to return to elasticity (as per Adam Tinkoff’s fortune cookie twitter yesterday).

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http://www.emergingcustomer.com Michelle Lamar

Here is my analogy: It’s like Eating at a Restaurant.

Facebook is an all you can eat buffet. You get lots of choices and you get dessert. Ning is the place you go when you want to have a really excellent meal with lots of courses in a smaller place where you can talk to people more in depth. There’s room for both. I like both. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. That’s the beauty of it.

I was all fired-up about Grasshoppers over at Facebook. When I saw that it was being moved, I had an instant of “o shit” but quickly got over it once I saw how totally easy it was to set up and go over at Ning. After 30 seconds at Ning, I knew Chris was so right to do the move.

I have the attention span of a flea and Ning was TOTALLY painless. Less than one minute of set up, it’s just that easy.
http://www.emergingcustomer.com Michelle Lamar

Here is my analogy: It’s like Eating at a Restaurant.

Facebook is an all you can eat buffet. You get lots of choices and you get dessert. Ning is the place you go when you want to have a really excellent meal with lots of courses in a smaller place where you can talk to people more in depth. There’s room for both. I like both. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. That’s the beauty of it.

I was all fired-up about Grasshoppers over at Facebook. When I saw that it was being moved, I had an instant of “o shit” but quickly got over it once I saw how totally easy it was to set up and go over at Ning. After 30 seconds at Ning, I knew Chris was so right to do the move.

I have the attention span of a flea and Ning was TOTALLY painless. Less than one minute of set up, it’s just that easy.
http://www.shainemata.net Shaine

I joined up on Ning because I already had an account. I really did not want to do it, but I saw that they added badges, and I can dig badges.
http://www.shainemata.net Shaine

I joined up on Ning because I already had an account. I really did not want to do it, but I saw that they added badges, and I can dig badges.
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http://conniecrosby.blogspot.com Connie Crosby

I love the responsiveness of Gina et al at Ning.

Also, Facebook is blocked in some places so having access via Ning helps get around that problem.

It is just another tool. The trick is finding the right tool for a community. I think we can make Ning work.

Cheers,
Connie
http://conniecrosby.blogspot.com Connie Crosby

I love the responsiveness of Gina et al at Ning.

Also, Facebook is blocked in some places so having access via Ning helps get around that problem.

It is just another tool. The trick is finding the right tool for a community. I think we can make Ning work.

Cheers,
Connie
http://lofistl.com Bill Streeter

It’s funny, that a few of us have seemed to discover Ning at about the same time. I came to it because of the Jet Set Show, and thought it would work for LO-FI. So about a week ago I went public with it and I am amazed that it’s working so well. I’ve been looking for a platform to extend my audience into a community for a while, and I looked long and hard at different message board systems, as well as things like Drupal and Joomla, but nothing had the features that I wanted. Ning had the goods and after I saw what Zadi and Steve had built I knew that that Ning was the Thing. So far my users really seem to love it.
http://lofistl.com Bill Streeter

It’s funny, that a few of us have seemed to discover Ning at about the same time. I came to it because of the Jet Set Show, and thought it would work for LO-FI. So about a week ago I went public with it and I am amazed that it’s working so well. I’ve been looking for a platform to extend my audience into a community for a while, and I looked long and hard at different message board systems, as well as things like Drupal and Joomla, but nothing had the features that I wanted. Ning had the goods and after I saw what Zadi and Steve had built I knew that that Ning was the Thing. So far my users really seem to love it.
http://www.salemglobal.com Michael

I would love to share a new tool with your readers. BigString is a free email service

that allows a user to easily send, recall, erase, self-destruct and modify an email after it has been sent. BigString users

have unprecedented control over all of their email, whether they choose to send it through the BigString.com website or even

Microsoft Outlook.

It is inevitable. At one point or another in your life, you’ve sent an email to a colleague, client, family member or

significant other that’s been highly regrettable. Even before pressing send, you knew it was a bad idea, yet you rolled the

dice and clicked anyway, only to cringe at what you wrote later on.

http://www.BigString.com

Have a great day!
Michael
http://www.salemglobal.com Michael

I would love to share a new tool with your readers. BigString is a free email service

that allows a user to easily send, recall, erase, self-destruct and modify an email after it has been sent. BigString users

have unprecedented control over all of their email, whether they choose to send it through the BigString.com website or even

Microsoft Outlook.

It is inevitable. At one point or another in your life, you’ve sent an email to a colleague, client, family member or

significant other that’s been highly regrettable. Even before pressing send, you knew it was a bad idea, yet you rolled the

dice and clicked anyway, only to cringe at what you wrote later on.

http://www.BigString.com

Have a great day!
Michael
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http://grasshoppersnetwork.org randulo

Yesterday’s mailing lists are today’s RSS feeds are tomorrow’s … The question is, what can you do with these tools? I think we’re getting somewhere with the Grasshoppers Network Conference. Although it’s live and therefore not convenient for everyone all the time, it’s also available in recorded form via several web pages and RSS including iTunes.

Listen now: http://grasshoppersnetwork.org/latest.htm

Subscribe via RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GrasshoppersConference

Keep up with topics:
http://grasshoppersnetwork.org/topics.php

Still waiting for the next http://Kiva.org
http://grasshoppersnetwork.org randulo

Yesterday’s mailing lists are today’s RSS feeds are tomorrow’s … The question is, what can you do with these tools? I think we’re getting somewhere with the Grasshoppers Network Conference. Although it’s live and therefore not convenient for everyone all the time, it’s also available in recorded form via several web pages and RSS including iTunes.

Listen now: http://grasshoppersnetwork.org/latest.htm

Subscribe via RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GrasshoppersConference

Keep up with topics:
http://grasshoppersnetwork.org/topics.php

Still waiting for the next http://Kiva.org
Gaige

hi nice post, i enjoyed it
Gaige

hi nice post, i enjoyed it
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Ways to Disrupt a Community

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