Ning Exposed – Tech Company Scams its Clients
Sunday, March 22, 2009 11:23
Clients of Ning are outraged [Link disabled by Ning] over a decision that Ning made public last week. The software maker sent out an email to all of its clients, those who have created a social network on Ning, stating that they would email all members of all websites who use the Ning software to promote the newly designed Ning.com.
“Please do not send the email to my members. I pay you not to advertise on my site and I don’t think you should target my members directly,” says one Ning network creator and paying customer. Ning charges network creators to keep all Ning promotional links off their site. Some members have been paying this fee for years and so are even more upset at the direct email marketing campaign. Why pay the fee?
To make matter worse, the new Ning.com combines all member data from all websites created using the Ning system. The owners of the websites have no option to opt out or remove their members. There’s going to be a lot of explaining to do when members see their own picture, profile, and information on Ning.com, a website that most members have never even heard of.
Is Ning a scam?
There’s a theory that Ning’s actions are part of a carefully planned scam to make the company the next MySpace or Facebook. Instead of spending millions of dollars advertising and gathering enough members to compete with MySpace or Facebook, why not create a social network platform and rely on the ambition of thousands of other network creators to up build membership. When the time is right, simply take all of those members and combine them into one super-site, Ning.com.
The structure that Ning has set up is somewhat like a pyramid scam. The thousands of network creators do all of the work, spend all of the money to benefit those at the very top.
If they are going to use members which were gathered by the hard work and money of the Network Creator’s, shouldn’t Ning be paying the network creators? Why do the network creators pay Ning?
The unraveling of Ning
April 2008: Ning raises $60 million in funding. The fat and lazy syndrome kicks in.
August 2008: Ning shuts down app maker “Widget Laboratory.” Ning had some kind of dispute with WidgetLaboratory, who designed applications for the Ning platform. Ning decided to ban WL and so all of the applications were removed. This caused havoc on hundreds, if not thousands, of websites who used addons by WL. Ning would not allow WL back nor would it consider allowing the apps back. They received hundreds of complaints.
WL wrote in a press release:
“We have achieved a level of market penetration into the Ning community that has made WidgetLaboratory a somewhat “essential” resource for add-ons and widgets. Based upon the personal phone calls and correspondence from the entire Ning team, including their entire Executive staff, it would appear that they decided to eliminate WidgetLaboratory for anti-competitive purposes alone. This is truly ironic to us, given the fact that our products have demonstrably INCREASED the popularity of Ning and caused more customers of Ning to purchase their Premium Services.”
Strengthening the claims made by WL, Ning announced a partnership agreement which it entered into with WL’s biggest competitor, Scripts4Ning. News of the joint venture was announced within weeks of banning WidgetLaboratory.
August 2008: Ning bans access to all PHP files. If you own a website which uses the Ning platform, you can no longer access your own website files! This policy is still in place. You aren’t allowed to see your own files.
November-December 2008: Ning shuts down the Network Creator forum making it impossible to voice opposition in a meaningful way. The creator forum was the single most visited site for network creators. They would meet to discuss ideas, talk about new updates, get help, and voice criticism.
Ning has been known to remove entire posts which are critical of the company, as well as ban members who post them. This recent note on a Ning group complains that Ning is deleting comments “As fast as we post them.” The member is referring to the 200 comment post complaining about the direct email campaign. Members complained that as many as 17 replies were deleted by Ning last night alone!
December 2008: Ning reverses its policy against meddling in the content of individual networks. The change is a complete about-face. Ning announced that it will no longer allow websites which are “Adult” in nature. Thousands of websites, who believed that their content was fully compliant and secure received notices from Ning. They were given a few weeks to transfer their sites out of the Ning platform. Small problem- They didn’t have access to any of their files and couldn’t move. Ning, realizing the dilemma they created, made an exception and allowed those network creators access to their websites files.
This is quite a change from a company who’s co-founder Marc Andreessen was quoted only a few months earlier saying:
“To prevent porn, you have to take an activist stand against freedom of expression — you have to get in there and judge content, judge people, judge intent, and take action based on your judgments. I would never criticize a company for doing so, but I don’t want to do that, and we as a company don’t want to do that.”
Oh, by the way, they didn’t remove ALL adult content from Ning, only the content they didn’t like. If your name is 50 Cent and you own the largest social network on Ning, you can have all the porn you want (BEWARE: Link is NSFW). I guess you can’t really blame them. How do you argue with 50 cent?
[Update]February 2009: Ning Changes its Slogan (Axes Social Network Platform Motto)
“Create Your Own Social Network for Anything” was the long time slogan of the software company. If you visit the new Ning.com, however, you’ll notice that they’ve removed their slogan and now make no mention of the fact that they are a social network platform. NONE AT ALL. The new slogan reads “Ning lets you create new social experiences for the most important people and interests in your life.”
For those who thought that Ning’s recent policy decisions were just a fluke, THINK AGAIN. They are taking steps to recreate their entire image as an independent social network (In direct competition with the very clients they are charging).
[Update 2] Ning changes it’s slogan again (for the second time in 2 months). It reverts back to mentioning that they allow you to create social networks.
Spam-Spam-Spam: If you are a member of a Ning site, you will know about it quickly. Ning networks are bombarded by spam invites to join other networks on Ning. Your inbox will be flooded by emails that say “Come Join Me on XYZ Network.”
There is a hole in the system, which is convenient for Ning, which allows people to gather friends across any website using Ning’s technology and then invite them all to join their website. The invites are sent directly to email address, even though you never gave out your email address.
Imagine if all of your friends on MySpace have their own MySpace sites and each constantly invite you to join them? The invites are sent to your email inbox, and because of the way Ning is set up, its hard to tell which friend on which site actually sent it to you!
Ning has refused to deal with this problem. Its actually a convenient problem for Ning. The more social networks that people join which are run by Ning, the better the chances are that these members will know who Ning is and ultimately use the new Ning.com.
The Business Plan Will Fail
Ning should stick to what it does best. They have an excellent and unmatched platform to create a social network. People are very willing to pay Ning for the software and their market will continue to grow as they become the dominant player.
As the company shifts direction, they will anger their existing clients, and diminish their brand in an attempt to achieve something which is unachievable for Ning. It will never be a MySpace or Facebook. Most of the social networks on Ning are comprised of a few hundred people (Maybe less). These small networks tend to be niche areas which are made up of communities of people with specific common interests. If they wanted to be on MySpace, or Facebook, then they’d be there. The appeal of the small Ning network is the community of like minded people.
Ning Must Act
If I were the VC firm who pumped $60 million into Ning, I’d have serious concerns. Ning is clearly not the same company they were when the funding began. They have since proved to be erratic and unpredictable in policy, willing to damage their client base and brand to pursue a non-core agenda, and they’ve compromised the trust and data provided to them by the network creators. This company needs to change course - and fast. I wouldn’t be surprised if we heard about a flood of lawsuits filed against Ning in the coming weeks.
PS- If you’re wondering why we’re writing about a private company, it’s because no one else will. We received comments and notes about this subject. One person mentioned that they tried repeatedly to submit this story to the major tech blogs, but they wouldn’t respond or write about it, so we did.
Update 1 : Inflating Their Numbers?
It’s been brought to my attention that Ning claims to have nearly 1 million social networks yet the website dedicated for network owners has a total membership of 24,000. The large difference in numbers suggests 3 possibilities:
1. Each network creator has an average of 47 or so social network sites on Ning (Not likely)
2. 98% of social network creators never sign up to use the website dedicated for them? (Also not likely)
3. Ning is inflating the numbers (Most Likely).
Remember when Ning got rid of all of the adult networks? Those networks were a large portion of Ning’s overall traffic. Did Ning begin to drop the number of total social networks? NO. The number, according to ning, has been skyrocketing without any declines. That’s impossible if they got rid of such a large amount of networks.
[Update 2] Are you a Network Creator on Ning??
If so, let your voice be heard. We are hosting a discussion to propose a “Network Creator Bill of Rights” We need your input!
[UPDATE 3] Many of the links listed as proof in this article have been disabled by Ning. When writing this piece, Ning had already shut down access to the forum on their clients “Network Creators” social network. Since this post came out, however, Ning has taken down the ENTIRE site. Along with the site, went all of the posts by angry clients. Ning has contracted GetSatisfaction to become a third party forum for client/company interactions. The content is light because it’s still relatively new, however, if you click this link you can see many of the same client complaints. All of which remain UNANSWERED by the company (Not much satisfaction).
[UPDATE 4] Ning has a Rip-Off Report page. Click to read the complaints in the post titled:
Ning , Ning Inc., Ning.com Members Data Theft, Constant Spam, Hold’s Site Data and Files Hostage
Related posts:
NingCreatorzz says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:57 am
ning sucks! everything you said is true. that company is costing me a lot of money that i wasted on my site.
james says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:58 am
good post. i wasn’t aware of all that was going on with ning. thanks for sharing
FURYNOZ says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:01 pm
ning is great if you want to make someone else rich off of your hard work lol
ning-blows says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 1:14 pm
those guys are scammers i got caught also. lucky that i only had a small network.
SocialGO Templates says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Forget NING and move to SocialGO. It’s still in the beginning stages but will have many features that will rival NING. WidgetLaboratory has widgets. I have templates. what NING is doing is unethical. How could they charge people and after years of hard work steal their userbase to help their own agenda. SO WRONG!
techguru says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 9:08 pm
lol good point about the number of networks. i bet their is a back room at ning where a bunch of pin heads just sit around and create social networks all day
Ning_NC says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 9:31 pm
http://networkcreators.ning.com/group/networkcreatorsgeneraldiscusssion/forum/topics/ning-is-removing-comments-from
ning is removing comments and members who speak out. this is getting UGLY
chartingstocks1 says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 9:33 pm
it’s amazing to see a company behave this way. it seems that the post struck a nerve though. there’s been some buzz about it
TJW says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:06 pm
I am a network creator assisting a large non-profit. I guaranteed the people I work with that Ning was not what you have described (based on the very information provided to me by Ning — in the days before they went totally wacko). In the name of greed they abused me and have placed me in a very poor position with individuals I have worked with for years. Ning disgusts me. Poor, poor leadership – arrogant and abusive.
Another Angry NINGer says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:11 pm
The entre reason I began creating my social network on Ning was because they promised over and over that “you own the content you own the code…”
The promoted this aa a key selling point on their webite, in their Terms of Service, on YouTube, and anywhere else they could shout it. Now I can’t choose what software I run or choose to take the data I own elsewhere.
One piece you have MISSED in this otherwise thurough article is the followup with what was Scripts4Ning. They were basically bought out and absorbed by Ning, and when they tried to creat a new company built on Ning they got the rug pulled out from under them by an uncalled for change of Nings TOS.
Very ugly and obviously intentional.
Anon says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:22 am
Users who create networks on Ning DO NOT automatically become members of Ning’s Network Creator site. The 24,000+ members on Ning’s NC network have chosen to join that network. In addition, each Ning account can only create 10 networks. The maximum that Ning’s numbers could be inflated is by 10x.
pennyslots says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:06 am
Very poor form from ning, in my opinion. I wonder how many ning users actually know about this or if they do, whether they are aware of the implications?
I agree, that socialgo is the way to go – I’ll be incorporating their offering into my sites in the future, rather than ning
NINGISASCAM says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:50 am
IS THERE A GOOD LAWYER IN THE HOUSE? WHY NOT FILE A CLASS ACTION AGAINST THEM???
Another Angry NINGer says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:03 am
If we file a class action they will delete our networks. Our members then suffer even more. Ning has us right where they want us: totally powerless until we can move our network data off their servers or become so angry that we choose to sacrifice our networks and pursue legal action.
Pissed_Ning_Crea8tr says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:46 am
http://www.lmcm.com/contact/default.aspx
Contact THOSE PEOPLE…that’s the division of Legg Mason who owns $60 million worth of Ning Pref. Stock…They would be MOST interested in protecting their investment!!!!
Ex Ning fan says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:49 am
Killer article. Techxxxxxx.com etc, REALLY blew it by passing on publishing this great news on which you seized. You hit all the main points, and I know firsthand that they are all based in pure fact. No wonder your quantast growth is almost vertical. Props 2 U!
I have several Ning networks. Each has over 2,500 members. Ning really has a few thousand REAL networks with thousands of members, and hundreds of thousands of what I call “Maytag repairman” Networks, given the population is limited to the network creator.
I spent a lot of $$$ and time promoting my networks for over a year. Ning 1st alienated me and a hell of a lot of serious NC’s by refusing to protect me from what we NC’s call “member vultures.” That is some lazy shiftless a** who joined your Ning site only to friend people, then invite them to their little BS, quickie ning site, in which they invested NOTHING. Despite howls of protest from countless serious NC’s, months ago, Ning said “nothing we can do about that.”
We expressed that this is tantamount to opening a restaurant, spending a lot of $$$ to promote it, and in wanders some leech who walks around, handing out invites to come eat at their restaurant. Ning was so busy eating their $60 MM VC plate of money, (sic), ythat they did not hear what we NC’s were complaining about. Right then, we saw the imminent demise of Ning
We were going to open other Ning sites,and canceled our plans after that failure of ning to protect our investment.
Yes I would not be shocked to see a class action v. Ning for this pattern of negligence which you meticulously described. LOTS of us serious NC’s feel: completely duped. Your flow chatrt all make perfect sense. This was well orchestrated by Ning, and at the expense of many thousands of hard working NC’s. I am f***ing pissed. Hell, maybe I will become a class rep in a an action v. Ning. I think THEY know they are in trouble, as I all premium-paying NC’s at Ning, received this note from Ning today:
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Signed by an ex Ning fan, and putative Plaintiff?
Ex Ning fan says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:52 am
RE my previous post — Here is the Ning letter to all Premium NC’s from today, that did not show in the above post: I was saying that Ning knows they are in trouble with the serious NC”s they have….
“”"Dear Network Creator,
Since we launched the new Ning.com two weeks ago, we’ve heard from many of you about the increase in new members and activity you’ve seen as a result of it. Thank you for the kind words and we’re excited to hear that many of you are benefiting from it already.
We have also heard requests from some of you who have purchased the premium service to remove Ning promotional links that we not contact members of your social network directly. As a company, we’ve always appreciated the open and honest dialog we have had with Network Creators on the Ning Platform. In this case, we’ve listened carefully to your feedback and wanted to let you know that as a Network Creator who has purchased the remove Ning promotional links premium service, we will not be sending an administrative message announcing the new Ning.com to members of your social network.
We’ll continue to keep you in the loop on changes and new features for you to take advantage of on your social network on Ning and leave your communication with your members up to you.
Thanks again for using Ning and continuing to provide great feedback to us. We appreciate it.”"”
Fan of Ning says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 1:42 pm
We have been customers of Ning for more than a year now and this article is completely untrue. I would suggest Charting Stocks does their research BEFORE posting an article like this.
Ning Just Works says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
This article is complete nonsense, Ning is an amazing platform for businesses, and individuals looking to create community and foster their brand, they don’t have to cater to your product if its breaking their system.
Remember, this is THEIR company, they can shut down anything they want that may cause their networks problems that require attention away from development. Why do they have to devote resources to fix YOUR applications? That makes no sense.
Why don’t you create a network on Ning encouraging support around your product and show Ning that you have a substantial amount of people that want YOUR PRODUCT on their profiles, and then you have a case.
Find another SN to attack, leave Ning to the people that enjoy building on it and using it for the right reasons.
Ken says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:03 pm
I have been using Ning for a couple of years and have nothing but great reviews for them. Great platform and great support. Sounds like a witch hunt…
Rob Mowery says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:17 pm
I think the facts of this post are slanted heavily the wrong way. Not only have I used Ning for my own networks, but there are many non-profits, government, and business running their branded social networks on Ning successfully. Granted a few of the initial networks I created did not take off, but that is not Ning’s fault. The support from Ning, the developer community and the professionalism of keeping networks moving at a low-cost has been nothing short of incredible. While there are small problems with certain features, most have been addressed with each iteration of new push of their system updates. The illustration above makes me laugh along with the whole Ponzi scheme, as it shows lack of understanding of how a social network actually works. Ning is not just a social network, it is a platform for creating social networks. The benefit of the Platform is to allow those who chose to participate the ability to leverage the user bases within Ning, which are millions of users. this is no different than Facebook, with the Facebook connect. The whole point connecting to these existing large users bases is to gain transaction more quickly, but it is not a Ponzi or MLM scheme, that is absurd.
I won’t say Ning is perfect, but neither are other platforms like KickApps, CollectiveX, FB, Myspace, etc. No one platform will please everyone, but the statements in this blog post and the poor attempt at trying to justify them makes me question how much research was done.
All the social media companies are still growing and learning as they go, their models will change, their terms of service will change, and from my aspect as someone who integrates solutions for customers, one needs to find the right tools, platforms and technologies for the job. If the technology/company does not meet your needs – move on to something else and provide reasonable and factual critique of the service and let them know how to improve.
I have done just that with several technology companies and providers that had sub-par standards.
I however think that poorly written, negatively slanted bashing of a company is just poor journalism. Especially since I and many others, whom have had a rock solid experience with Ning, realize the writings here are purely incorrect and hostile.
Ning User says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Wow, accusing people of fraud is a pretty hefty charge, this is all conjecture founded by disgruntled pornsters.
TK says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:21 pm
I have two networks with 20,000 members each. Ning promised NC’s would get more traffic from this. Guess what, they were right. Nigerian scammers have hit my sites big time, predadors looking for teens, and all the good things that come along with sharing our members with the general public. Ning is no longer meant for niche networks. Ning has become facebook and each network is now just a group. How well did Yahoo or MSN groups do?
NingShming says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:31 pm
UH OH..WATCH OUT CHARTING STOCKS..THEIR ARE SOME OBVIOUS NING “SHILLS” POSTING COMMENTS. @FANOFNING – WHAT IS UNTRUE? IM A NETWORK CREATOR AND I THINK THIS ARTICLE GIVES THE MOST DETAILED AND ACCURATE DESCRIPTION I EVER SEEN ABOUT NING
Shame on NING says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:38 pm
To the people supporting Ning in this thread: Please provide the name of your network and the amount of time and money you have invested into it. It would be great if you could also explain the degree to which you count on Ning for your income.
I’d imagine a few of those supporters are actually Ning PR. Others are hobbyists or better yet, the member vultures discussed earlier. To the guy who said Ning is great for businesses, that’s only true if the business doesn’t want any control over what is being done with their branded content or the members of their networks private information. Additionally, we would gladly leave Ning alone if they would allow us to. But they changed their TOS a few months ago and made us leaving virtually impossible.
To the person who said the article was untrue: There is no opinion there, just dates and facts that are completely accurate. Nobody is disputing any of the facts, just the implications and assumptions built upon those facts.
Ning WAS great. Now they ARE great at some things and totally counter productive in others. One thing is for sure though, we aren’t getting what we signed up for and this isn’t what I’ve been paying for. If I own my content (as they promised) why do they get to publish it as theirs?
great article.
Network Creator says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:49 pm
I am a creator of multiple networks on Ning, my largest has about 4,000 members on it. I have always appreciated Ning’s fast customer service and low price point. Those aren’t the things being questioned in this article though.
A simple fact is that Ning is using my members data without their knowledge for their own gain.
This article expresses the viewpoint of many Network Creators (like myself) who not only won’t create any more networks on this platform, but are actively trying to leave and can’t take our 12-18 months of user generated content with us. That’s the data we were told we own.
Yes, Ning offers a great service, but the actual price of it just sky rocketed. I have deleted all but one of my networks and can’t wait to figure out how to transport MY data off of Ning.
Network Creator says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
by the way, NIng deleted the 15 page signature campaign you linked to in your article, which I think proves your point.
Rob Mowery says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:03 pm
In my case I am not trying to make money using Ning, but rather using Ning to support other product or services by using it to provide private community for my customers.
If one is solely using social networks to try to make $$ from ads, that model will fail 75% of the time, since 1) online ads as a business model has been showing decline 2) the # of people you need to not just become members, but to have stickiness would be very large.
What Ning has been ideal toward is when either I or clients are looking for a platform to build community around product or ideas/subject matter. You are able to limit and control members by invite, you can allow connection to other platforms, and the goal is not to make $$ from the social network, but use the social network to keep ones products. clubs, organizations, etc. all connected, focused and moving forward. It is not just the technology, but how the technology is applied. If you are trying to create another FB, MySpace, etc. Ning is the poor choice, so is KickApps. You would need to build from scratch to own the IP.
If you want to build specific community that will help grow your brand, product, or organization, than Ning, KickApps, CollectiveX are good vehicles.
I have had TOS’s changed on many platforms, including Ning, that I have been using, it is a risk one takes in using a platform. Even the iPhone TOS for the SDK has changed. I go into each of these endeavors realizing that I may have to dynamically change my business model or TOS.
Also I am just am just a satisfied developer that has used Ning, along with other platforms. If any of the others were being slammed as in this post I would point out inaccuracies with the opinion as well. I was merely stating I don’t believe all the data presented in this post and that my comments are also just an opinion. I have had positive experiences and customer support thus far. I have also been using the platform in a different manner than others form what it appears.
Network Creator says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Hi Rob,
I think you have good points, especially about how to use the technology. I do disagree with one thing you said though which was, “if you are trying to create another FB, MySpace, etc. Ning is the poor choice, so is KickApps. You would need to build from scratch to own the IP.”
The point of using Ning when we created our networks was that we DID own the IP. That’s exactly what is upsetting so many people. ownership is more than a minor change in the TOS, don’t you think?
Cornelius Geary says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:02 pm
What a garbage post. As a client of Ning, I am very happy. Ning has been the easiest, most flexible and affordable platform to build out our wine community. Their team has been excellent to deal with from the CEO all the way down to customer service. At each level they have been professional, responsive and interested in helping Wine 2.0 improve our site and grow our audience. They have gone out of their way many times to help Wine 2.0 improve our site. The Ning platform has been great, simple to use and improve on. They have had some tech issues but nothing major that has impacted our community and they have been great in dealing with any problems.
Sounds like the author of this post needs to remove his tinfoil hat and grab a glass of whine.
Murtopia says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:12 pm
I have a few networks running on Ning: Wakefirst.com, PowderChurch.com, Poderator.com, Rayva.com and a few others. My experience doesn’t really fit with what this story says. I’ve been very happy and my networks continue to grow with active members.
Wakefirst has been on Ning for almost three years and in that time I’ve been impressed that they never stop making feature releases for things we as a community ask for. The platform is so easy to use and set up that I send my clients there all the time for their commercial sites.
I plan on keeping my networks going on Ning and probably adding more as I come up with ideas. Feel free to send me a message if you have any other questions as well. thx.
Ning Takes Important First Step; Is it Enough? | Charting Stocks says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:07 pm
[...] Creators” expressed nothing but joy over Ning’s policies in the comment section of our previous post. Aside from an excellent platform, how can you be pleased with the sharing of all of your members [...]
chartingstocks1 says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:19 pm
ex-ning fan, thank you for the comment. unfortunately with mainstream sites like techcXXX.com, it isn’t news unless the company issues a press release. They cheered the decision by ning to get rid of all adult sites, but gave no time to the hundreds or thousands of people who lost their entire investment…
chartingstocks1 says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Murtopia…please READ the article. We do not dispute that Ning has a superior platform. We dispute their recent POLICIES…as a creator, the value of any of those sites has just been diminished…a Nng network, in which the site owner does not have exclusive ownership of his/her member data is LESS valuable than a social network who does…and you’re happy about that??? lol
On-Ning says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:42 pm
I own a ning website with almost 10,000 members. forgive me but i’m worried about posting my site URL because of possible retaliation from ning. i started with ning 18 months ago and was VERY happy with them. I am still extremely happy with the technology. i think they made some bad decision, but i also think that calling is a “Scam” is too much. i am not disputing anything you wrote, its all accurate but i just think its more a matter of bad management decisions then some kind of behind the scenes scam. i love the product, but their management and customer service rreeeeeallly deteriorated. you didnt mention that they raised their fees during a deep recession, and added a new fee. we have to pay between $10-$100 per month to get “Help” or customer service. Another horrible idea
lolol says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Murtopia you’re actually making it worse for your pals at ning. of the sites you mentioned, the first 2 were hailed on the official ning blog . if you have a one in a “million” shot of one being featured, what are the odds of 2 of your sites being hailed by ning? its in the billions. plus after looking at your sites, no offense,. but they are nothing special in design or membership. so did you go to high school with Gina Bianchini? lol
http://blog.ning.com/2009/02/start-your-season-at-wakefirst.html http://blog.ning.com/2009/01/leaving-tracks-with-powder-church.html
Ex Ning fan says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:27 pm
A small minority of you seem to think the author is merely trashing the innocent Ning. Well they are not. They are making observations based on historical fact. It sure looks like the Ning business plan is evolving, or disintegrating into something thats is tantamount to a scam. Yes Ning has offered great customer service, and provided a dirt cheap entry level platform for creating a social network. BUT – the recent series of mods to their TOS and overall business plan, all well documented here, are NOT what we poured our blood sweat and tears into. We were duped by Ning. On information and belief, I know that Ning is about to experience an exodus of their biggest NC’s to non-nIng platforms, due to recent events. And I do not mean the new “limey Ning” a/k/a socialgo.com, who will eventually do the same thing Ning did to “punk us” lol. I regret they went the way they did. Had we known this would have happened when we first opened our small group of nIng sites, we never would have dealt with them. Are any of us trying to hurt Ning? Hardly, we are HELPING Ning, who is certainly monitoring every word here and reading every bit of all this, by telling them how we feel, (which we can’t do after they closed the NC forum) and what a huge mistake they are making.
chartingstocks1 says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:30 pm
ex_ning they ARE monitoring this. i can confirm that. there’s been some people sniffing around on behalf of ning
Another Angry NINGer says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:24 pm
I’m angry, but I don’t think Ning is evil. If they would let me actually control my content (like we originally agreed on) I would be much happier.
I understand them having to make decisions for stability in regards to the third party devs, but publishing our members data in defiance of our clearly expressed wishes and not letting us port the content to another provider? That’s changing the rules in the middle of the game.
I’m all for progress and change, but Ning is making a series of decisions that are clearly not in my best interest or the interest of my members. What makes me angry is the feeling of powerlessness this has created. I don’t control the site I worked so hard to create. Ning makes all the decisions. If I deleted my site in protest (which I won’t do because it doesn’t solve anything) they would still keep my member data on their site.
I just hate being lied to. Ning lied to us. End of story.
Carobee says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:58 pm
I’m not sure how you can say that adult networks were a large portion of Ning’s traffic?? All you need to do is look at the alexa.com chart for Ning to see that there was a minor dip in traffic at the end of last year when they announced they weren’t going to have adult network’s anymore, but you can see that the traffic has increased at the same rate as b4, so I think they must not have had many adult networks anyway……
Also, I tried socialGo, but honestly it lacks alot of features it needs to compete I think; there are alot of bugs that i found.
chartingstocks1 says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Carobee: It was a sizable amount
Source: http://mashable.com/2008/01/05/ning-shows-its-naughty-side/
Seriously... says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:16 pm
I have been using Ning for a long time and I am very happy with it. Does it do 100% of the things I want it to, no. Does it do 90% of the things I want it to, yes. It is much cheaper than all of the other platforms out there and has far fewer issues and utilizes less resources internally.
I have used it to build out 40+ communities in 20+ languages and it works great. Is it perfect right out of the box, no but it keeps getting better with each release.
Think of how many people were bashing Twitter a year ago and now it is the darling of the web.
What concerns me more is the tone of the article. the article feels more slimy than what they make Ning out to be in the article. Usually reporters try to get two sides to a story and are unbiased but this writer seems to have a personal issue with Ning.
The writer bashes Ning about the adult sites and state the traffic went down. Take a look at compete.com Ning’s traffic went up.
The writer of this article originally had this article tagged as “FRAUD”. Then they decided to remove the FRAUD tag. I didn’t get a notification they were removing the word “FRAUD” from the tag to this article. Then again I guess it is their site and they can do what they want to with it and change the article how they like. Maybe Ning should be able to do the same thing and change what they want to change to run their business effectively.
There are strong words in the article like SCAM and FRAUD and you are promoting it for all to see with a biased viewpoint. This is not responsible journalism. Looking at the article you don’t even post your name or have an about page to your site. That makes your site look more like a fraud than you accuse Ning of being. According to Compete.com January is the first month you even had traffic. I did a “Who Is” on the domain and you are hiding who you are. Do you have anything to be worried about? If you are going to write articles like this why don’t you stand up and put a face to the article. Working for a competitor to Ning to try and damage their business maybe?
All of the above aside…
I have had a few clients move to Ning from their own platform. One company had dropped high 6 figures on a platform that didn’t do half the things that Ning does and was very buggy. I looked at the other competitors to Ning for my clients and they just are not there yet.
With VC money drying up I would rather have a company with 100 million in the bank so you know they will be around a while. Many of the Ning competitors do not have the money and will probably go away or will start to do layoffs and their platforms will suffer because of it. Your community will disappear as well when the people leave the company. They won’t think twice about you or your community as they get their unemployment check.
I looked at building my own social network with Drupal and other open source technologies and those are getting there but not there yet. Once the open source communities are there I will still have to do development to make them go live. Then you have to manage and maintain the community and try to “Keep up with the Jones’s” for features. Why would you want to incur those costs when there are no ad dollars or other revenue streams for the social media area?
looking other than NING says:
March 24th, 2009 at 1:01 am
As someone who has had several comments deleted from NING as fast as I could post them, I am a bit gun shy about really going into any depth with my many complaints. This is an excellent post that points out the very dramatic about face NING taken towards their network creators. It also illustrates the absolute hypocrisy of some of the so call king makers in technology reporting. It would seem that all it would take is speaking at someone’s conference or kicking a few ad bucks their way and some of these tech blogs will sell out so fast your head would spin. hmm…
For those of us who have been around a while who wouldn’t want an Andresson venture to be successful? However NING has just been so ruthless it’s behavior is very suspect. NING’s technology is excellent! NING management sucks! If i were king I would buy NING and SquareSpace and create a Software as Service powerhouse that could steal all of Auttomatic’s thunder (which is the direction they SHOULD be heading)! Just a thought!
Ex Ning fan says:
March 24th, 2009 at 7:35 am
re: “seriously” — IDENTIFY YOURSELF. Keeping private a/o a new site = “lack of credibility” in your narrow perspective? R U “serious’? HAHAHA
Ex Ning fan says:
March 24th, 2009 at 7:37 am
re seriously: “Usually reporters try to get two sides to a story” — dude 1 question: wtf planet r u from?
chartingstocks1 says:
March 24th, 2009 at 9:11 am
lol ex ning: can you hear the frustration in their voice? they’ve tried VERY hard to get my address and phone number. freedom of speech and press! i am obviously not a tech guy with a motive. this is a 2 year old financial blog.
SERIOUSLY: again, i didnt challenge the software. it’s great from what i can see. do you FACTUALLY dispute any of the pieces of information (Change of policy, Spam, Taking member data, emailing members, etc) . Yes, SCAM is my opinion and it is shared by many, though not all. some of their practices were DECEPTIVE. that’s my opinion which we can debate. what is NOT debatable, and has NOT been contested are the FACTS.
NCwhoneedstruth says:
March 24th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Ok… I have been a NC using NING for less then a year… When I first considered Ning I went to their forums and found songs of praise on how great they are… So I moved to ning with the thought that I was was actually able to build my community and then eventually move to a new Platform when I could afford it.. Well I was a victim of all the above (except Adult Network closing -there are still many adult Networks just look at Ning.com ) It seems once a 3rd party dev.. stats making money off of ning… Ning then closes them (WL)or makes a fake announcement of a Partnership(S4N) and steals the 3rd party Dev ideas and scripts and then promises to supply them to all NC’s ( when and if Ning is ready to )
With shutting down the NC forum it slapped all of us in the face…It was like Ning saying” we don’t give a crap about your complaints, thoughts, or concerns…
Gina has lied over and over again and videos show the proof.
If Ning was out to be a great company then they should not lock their customers(NC’s) on their platform…
Do I think that Ning is a scam or so called fraud… I am not sure…maybe not in the beginning but more and more I am being persuaded that they are ripping me off…
I am actually tired of hearing reasons why Ning does what they do … so If this article is biased or one sided… it is the side of the Frustrated NC on NING…so Thanks for publishing our side of the story ….it needs to be told
Dimple says:
March 24th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
NING is great. They are very responsive and provide great service when I need help with any of my social networks that I have created on their platform.
I’m not sure what the big fuss is all about. Every Network Creator can export their entire member database with a click of a button, which is hands down, the most important thing that NING can provide to it’s clients — especially the clients who are looking for inexpensive and convenient ways to collect information about its users in a non-intrusive way.
This is especially important for me since most of the social networks I have created are for established artists signed to record labels. Because of NING, we know exactly how to approach our users (or fans) and get them connected to our artists in a way that’s never been done before.
Sure, we can use other sites like Myspace and Facebook, but all they tell us & artists is how many friends they have and how many hits they get on their profile — what good is that?
NingTruther says:
March 24th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
dimple: thats a straw man argument. read the critique and try to tell me that it isnt true. the platform is great but they are a shady company for the reasons given. i do have a network on ning and can tell you that the company is managed incredibly poorly. its gotten MUCH worse over the past year
Carobee says:
March 24th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
chartingstocks1: I’m not sure how you can say it was a sizable amount when there was no sign of a traffic drop off when the adult networks were shut off… Have you actually looked at the charts on alexa or other places? To me it seems like there was almost no traffic to the adult networks; otherwise I don’t know how you can explain the steady traffic increase.
So is your statement that adult networks were a “large portion of Ning’s overall traffic” one of the FACTS that arent debatable? Maybe you’rve got some DECPETIVE PRACTICES of your own going on here. LOL! j/k though obviously you’re totally wrong about the traffic thing if you do even a tiny bit of research.
chartingstocks1 says:
March 25th, 2009 at 6:44 am
CAROBEE: no need for sarcasm…i’ve included MY SOURCES. i’d ask that you do the same. further, i can assume by your sarcasm that you were PERSONALLY offended in some way. another ning shill??
Source 1: Quantcast: http://www.quantcast.com/ning.com#traffic
notice the steady climb in traffic until the axing of adult networks announcement (dec announcement)…mind you, that decline came during a period when ning claims to have added 200,000 more social networks!..traffic only recently recovered to pre-adult-fiasco numbers recently..after launching ning.com
Source 2: Google “Ning”…google links lists “Sex” and “Adult” as 2 of the sites 7 site links..alongside the signin page : http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&num=50&q=ning+&btnG=Search
Source 3 : http://mashable.com/2008/01/05/ning-shows-its-naughty-side/
NingTruther says:
March 25th, 2009 at 9:37 am
@carobee – get back under Gina’s bianchis desk where you belong. remember, not to much sugar or cream in the coffee hahahaha
Ning Takes Important First Step; But Is it Enough? « TJ Marsh’s Weblog says:
March 25th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
[...] Creators” expressed nothing but joy over Ning’s policies in the comment section of our previous post. Aside from an excellent platform, how can you be pleased with the sharing of all of your members [...]
APaisleySuit says:
March 25th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
TAKE OFF THE TINFOIL HATS. Seriously people, it’s getting a little bit ridiculous.
1. Employees at Ning are neither fat, nor lazy. Remember the browser? You know, that thing you’re using to trash Ning? Andreesen invented it. He’s a smart guy, and the 60M round of funding is proof of this. He anticipated the current economic climate and the trouble companies are having trying to raise funding. And in a move of brilliance he raised enough money to (hopefully) see Ning through the bad times.
2. You are completely wrong about WidgetLabs. They weren’t removed for anti-competitive reasons. They were removed because their code was written poorly and was causing problems on pretty much all of the networks that were using it. More importantly, Ning basically bent over backwards to avoid banning them. Please do a bit of research before you post accusations: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/24/dont-post-the-evidence-unless-it-supports-your-case/
3. Adult content was removed because it ultimately became too hard and cost prohibitive to police. Do you support child porn? I didn’t think so. Again, do some research: http://blog.ning.com/2008/12/the-end-of-the-red-light-district.html
4. Ning provides a service that is priced very reasonably. Don’t forget that they provide you with code, hosting, and support. For free. All you have to put up with are ads. Yes, you can upgrade to premium for 24.95, but hosting alone typically costs that much. And for all you people freaking out about Ning logos on your network: CHILL THE FUCK OUT. Your four friends that actually use your network don’t care. Trust me.
Ex Ning fan says:
March 25th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Any NC who ever glanced at Ning sites knew many of the biggest populations resided at adult porn sites like guys in wetsuits (not going diving – well maybe they were, but just not on a reef) etc ect. Ning biggest traffic sources in 2008 WERE porn sites. I saw it on alexa myself,s well as when I used to cruise the sites that had high traffic to see what they had going on.
What Ning may find out the hard way is that a TOS IS a contract, regardless of what they write into it re: amendments. They have materially breached these contracts on many occasions with us. Really, I smell a class action (s).
Another name for a “scam” is the one i just invented for all my new friends here, and that is to: “Surreptitiously Con A Mark.” In case you have not figured it out from Mr. Invisibles’ (lol) kick ass dead on blog here, we ARE Marks, and we were conned. If you don’t know what a”mark” is, please call your local state penitentiary, ask for the inmates convicted of fraud, and they will edify you.
OMG SERIUOSLY!!! I must be incredible, for I am mysterious with no name or address and I even forgot to attach a DNA profile to my responses. BRB after I take off my ski mask. lmao
chartingstocks1 says:
March 25th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
APaisleySuit ; you want me to do some research by reading the official ning blog? lol why dont i just read their brochure? ?
APaisleySuit says:
March 25th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
chartingstocks1:
1. Yes, I want you to do research by reading the official Ning blog. It serves as a voice of the company. They clearly state their reasons for removing adult content. Based on your statement can I assume that official intent of Ning is irrelevant in determining the justifiability of it’s actions concerning the removal of adult networks?
2. You have presented a thesis stating that Ning is ultimately a pyramid scheme designed to take traffic from Network Creators for the profit of the company. However, you have presented no arguments that connect the removal of adult oriented networks to your thesis. One could argue that the removal of such a large number of networks directly contradicts your thesis.
3. How do you respond to points 1, 2, and 4 from my previous comment?
Carobee says:
March 25th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
wow chartingstocks1, I would have told you to put away the tinfoil hat, but someone beat me to it
LOL! I’m not offended at all, I just think it’s amusing when people pretend that their own opinions are facts and I like to call them on it.
So I looked at the quantcast chart you linked to. From what I can see, the traffic dipped about 1/4 of a million uniques between December and January. That’s when the traffic was recording about 5.7 million uniques per month. So the amount of traffic that seems to have been directly related to porn sites is 250,000 uniques out of 5,700,000, or 4%. I wouldn’t call that a large porportion of the traffic. Would you? Also, I’m not sure how you can say that traffic recovered only after the launch of ning.com. To me it looks like it reached those same levels in mid january. You’re the expert at reading charts tho
LOL. The other thing to keep in mind is that quantcast is US traffic only.
You can right me off as a shill if you like; makes no difference to me. You have to expect though that when you stand up and wave your arms around and shout FIRE, that lots of people are going to show up and pour cold water on you. LOL! Stay chilly
oh also, @NingTruther, I take milk and one sugar in my coffee, thanks. Please also shine my shoes while you are down there under my desk.
chartingstocks1 says:
March 25th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
APaisleySuit:
i see what you’re getting at but I think it strengthens the pyramid argument. they got alot of bad press because of the porn. if they wanted to merge all the networks, they needed to get rid of it. google doesnt like porn..thats no secret…if ning loses adsense, it can only rely on memberships, which many porn sites didnt pay..
chartingstocks1 says:
March 25th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
APaisleySuit ; in response to your previous comments:
#1. “Fat and Lazy” is an adage. Andreesen is probably a smart guy. I dont question that. Ning is a great idea, and so was netscape. though, neither companies turned a profit to my knowledge. they were ideas. and yes, ideas get funded, but that doesnt make a business.
#2. WL made excellent apps for ning. apps that ning STILL hasnt been able to duplicate. Look at their new chat feature, its a joke. You used a TC post as a reference which was written by a guy with ties to Ning and didnt disclose it. The hundreds of comments in that post do a good job of reminding the author of that, and other things.
#4. sounds like NC’s should be happy with what ning gives them regardless of how they were mislead? just be happy about the good code you got, but dont pay attention to the whole privacy thing, and member data.??
THATNINGGUY says:
March 26th, 2009 at 9:52 am
ning has a good platform, i dont think its a scam. i use it and i like it. i dont think that i can find anything better on the market BUT they do allow massive amounts of invite spam, they were deceptive in not telling us up front that our members and data belonged to them as much as us. am i angry? yes. am i leaving? no. there is nothing better. i should also add, that we really cant leave. we are hostages on ning. all they would give us is the email list of our members lol. we’d lose alllll of our photos, videos, profile data, blogs, forum.
Ning SUCKS says:
March 26th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Ning Sucks! they should be sued
e says:
March 26th, 2009 at 10:38 am
LOLOL,
I had the SAME network, FEATURED TWICE on the Ning Blog, what are the odds of that?
chartingstocks1 says:
March 26th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
very low if yours is as insignificant as the other guys two sites
SocialGo to Benefit from Ning Chaos? | Charting Stocks says:
March 26th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
[...] written about the chaos at social networking platform Ning. Website owners, who are clients of Ning, are outraged by the company’s decision to shift [...]
China says:
March 27th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Ning wrote me an e-mail telling me to change my links back to promoting Ning links, and to tell them when I did so. I feel like i’m the kid and they’re the babysitter
The Ning Controversy Reflects Why Web Services Are Stagnating - Kid Mercury's Blog says:
March 31st, 2009 at 6:40 am
[...] life on this concept as that is what my business is about. See the ChartingStocks’ smackdown: Ning Exposed – Tech Company Ning Scams its Clients | Charting Stocks Ning Takes Important First Step; Is it Enough? | Charting Stocks SocialGo to Benefit from Ning [...]
JF says:
March 31st, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I interviewed with them many months ago. They have the most aggressive vibe I’ve seen at any company — growth at all costs! I don’t think they (execs, Bianchini, who knows where the blame “really” lies) care what their customers endure as long as they can show ‘phenomenal’ growth. I mean, shutting down the Network Creators forum? How low can you stoop?
Doreen says:
April 1st, 2009 at 7:29 am
I am a Ning member and I would love to publish this article. How do I get permission to reprint this on my business website. I own a newsmagazine.
chartingstocks1 says:
April 1st, 2009 at 11:40 am
doreen, anyone can reprint the articles here. just kindly add a link back. thanks
Lee Chen says:
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:58 am
I am a small website designer and was looking to use Ning for my clients. I was doing some research and found this article. Thank you. I will not use NIng. There were many reasons not to use them stated here, but my biggest concern is the privacy issue, on all levels.
It sounds like NIng is taking more control back and leaving people like me, ( a person who would help clients create a network.) in the lurch. If they shut you off from moving your content, and if people can see your membership and also Ning is emailing your own networks, that is bad.
I had a business on Ebay from 1999-2005, and this is the kind of control Ebay exhibited.
There is no recourse once you have a business set up with a company that thinks like this.
These comments have the same tone, and I am very grateful I found this article before I started investing time and money into developing something using Ning.
Unsettling News About Our Community says:
April 5th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
[...] Ning Exposed – Tech Company Scams its Clients [...]
NilmaBostonRio says:
April 7th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I like Ning.
and thanks to tell me about SocialGo, I’m gonna check it.
by NilmaBostonRio
AG says:
April 12th, 2009 at 7:42 am
I started using Ning shortly after they launched and was excited about the technology, the design and the idea. These self-made social networks can be very cool and useful. I was even paying them for a while. But then I saw what the management team was trying to do and it had nothing to do with enabling people to do this or that – they had a little experiment to prove and became very totalitarian (deleting negative feedback, shutting down The Network Creator’s forum). When you lose your customer focus, you fail as a company … eventually. Ning, you will fail as well – maybe more slowly that others because the technology, the design, and the idea is cool … but you will fail.
dsm says:
April 12th, 2009 at 11:44 am
I have a small network on Ning and I am aware of the tactics you describe because those tactics are common in many kinds of business. I believe my network is getting hit hard by Ning because our posts and private messages are disappearing, occasionally after having been up, therefore it is not a ‘bot at least some of the time.
I think we are getting stomped because of several things. One, we specialize in tutoring older people about how to protect themselves in social and business networks from exactly these kinds of tactics, since they seems to be about as common on the internet as 18-wheelers on the expressways. We figure we can’t get rid of them so we will learn to drive around them.
The other is that we have openly stated in several places that we do not intend to “grow” beyond 100 members. Very tiny by Ning standards. We intend to help our members learn to control their own use of all the various programs available to manage their little home crafts businesses, etc.
I know that the pyramid companies despise people like us because this is nothing new. Before computers there were ponzi schemes all over the place, and they work the same way.
I have been surprised at the intensity of Ning’s stomping on us this week, but now that I am reading this forum, I understand what the timing is all about. I hope we can continue using Ning for a while, but we will definietely go back to some kind of old PHP board if we have to.
This is very short-sighted on Ning’s part. Our members would be happy to go on and build many solid Ning networks if we were left alone to work on our small businesses inside our co-op. Now we will just switch over to some other method if we have to.
Sting says:
April 16th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Great piece. A few points:
1) All these changes with Ning exerting greater control are not news to the investors. The only way the investors would have put such huge $$ into Ning is if Ning pitched them on a bigger idea than just enabling social networks for their customers. Namely, Ning pitched them on Ning ultimately OWNING a social ecosystem bigger than Facebook. If you’ve followed Ning and read all the execs blogs then it will be no new news that behind the scenes Ning has ALWAYS been about this vision of being the network of networks as the next evolution of social media central post Facebook. And this is what they sold investors to get $100M. If anything, I expect Ning is accelerating some moves in the direction of greater control to try to show some results as they get more pressure from the investors who have ancy LPs given overweight asset allocation to private equity/venture capital in this crappy markets environment.
2) NC’s should wake up that if something seems to good to be true it probably is. The crazy low price point is a warning sign as much as it seems like an opportunity, and you get what you pay for in life. You guys complaining that they want to charge for customer service, how do you expect Ning to have a viable business if nothing costs anything? Expect more changes from Ning as they try to develop a viable business. Believe me they make nothing from the ads they run on your sites if you are using them in that way. Their ultimate play is to be the gatekeeper for identity just as FB, GOOG, MSFT, etc. want to be.
confused-ning-user says:
April 17th, 2009 at 8:30 am
I’m glad someone made the effort to document all of these changes. I thought I was alone in looking forward with great anticipation to service upgrades…only to find myself reeling in disbelief as I read the latest changes in the update. A few graphic gizmos and a HUGE limitation to a service we already enjoyed. I used to be so die-hard pro-ning. You could not phase me from my support of them.
Now with a network of MANY 1,000’s of members I question every day the time that I invest in growing my site. I feel I am too far in bed with them to jump ship just yet. I feel that I have lost access to my source code and that means I have lost the ability to effectively sell my site down the road.
I remember thinking, some other site is going to see the opportunity to create a hosting service for the people that want to leave the Ning platform. It looks like SocialGo is stepping up in that arena.
There used to be this huge community of people helping each other on the Ning Forum. Now people don’t even talk anymore. There’s no more Ning community. Then if God forbid somebody posts something negative about Ning, they censor it. That is bad form.
I want Ning to continue to do business…I am vested with them through my site. I’m willing to pay several hundred dollars per month for a few services.
1. Access to my source code and full php control.
2. The ability to move my entire site to a 3rd party at some point. Most people would never do this but the ability to do it and guaranteed ownership of my data that I have paid a great deal of money to collaborate and add to my site.
3. Guaranteed ownership of my member data and site data.
I recently downloaded all of my member emails and I would advise others to do the same. Based on the actions of Ning in the last several months I would expect that they turn off member export in the near future, at least for a time to stall a mass exodus.
Split testing is one of the most common ways on the internet to find out what your customers want. Marc Andreessen is a very intelligent marketer…but he is famous for selling his business. Ning appears to be listening to investors instead of it’s most valuable asset, it’s Network Creators.
Well, that’s my 2 cents. I have withheld for many months my opinion but I find that if you don’t say something, you have no right to complain. It is apparent that Ning is reading this blog…so I employ you Ning….please listen to us.
Those that take the time to express their opinion are a fraction of one percent of those that are upset by the changes.
Thank you,
Confused Ning User
Ning SUCKS says:
April 17th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
I totally agree with what you said! Ning sucks! I migrated to SocialGO because I clearly think SocialGO is better and WL is there too, so I can get add-ons for my network!! Ning was threatening me because they said I have to pay to put a link to my other site because they thought it was an ad. Stupid Ning. AWESOME SOCIALGO!
- Jonathan, SocialGO user. Not a NING user.
Joey Daytona says:
April 21st, 2009 at 2:13 pm
(Epic double facepalm) Ugh! I knew this was just too good to be true…
jonny says:
April 24th, 2009 at 1:18 am
Thanks for a great article. I just canceled my premium accounts on NING jsut before they were going to charge for next month, yay!
I just wonder where th go now… I feel I cannot trust any of the present ones…
Is there any working standalone application to download or buy that really work?
Dolphin looks good but it seems to be too buggy…
any suggestions?
Neel says:
May 5th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Hi,
I agree with the above report, infact many of Ning customers have contacted us to use our white label social networking platform and asked us to help them to shift their networks out of Ning.
I think if you value your users and data, you should not go for SaaS models in social networking. Information and data is very valuable and todays world, hence we offer customized social networking solutions with no hidden lines.
http://www.axerosolutions.com/products/community
Neel
.NET Social Networking Software: Ning Woes says:
May 6th, 2009 at 12:40 am
[...] the social community world started buzzing about Ning’s tyrannical policies affecting all users who have created social communities using Ning SaaS model.For the starters, [...]
PLAINTIFF says:
May 9th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Hey gina and marc! Hope you are reading this, because it is “no drill” – get your legal team out of bed….
I am so livid over the obvious ning con job and scam, loss of investment I poured into my ning site, etc, that I am going to now retain lawyers to file an action in v. ning for fraud, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and any other viable causes of actions. Ning wasted a hell of a lot of my money, and time. I am goddam sure going to get MY money all back.
If they do not want to settle, I will just line up a Class Representative (PLENTY of those waiting around) and have a cute little lawsuit filed by some heavy hitting class actions players. Then it will get certified, and Ning will pay all the money back they ripped off from us, and maybe about $200,000,000.00 to a few lawyers.
gina and marc – you went the wrong way. Now you will have to pay all of us for the cute little scam you all perpetrated.
ningville – go ahead, make my day — think this is a f***ing joke……
jp says:
May 29th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
exNing Network Creator. Ning betrayed us. 1 year wasted. 3,000 members lost. SOcialGo will probably do the same thing Ning did when they get as big too.
ragtime says:
May 31st, 2009 at 5:01 am
What happenned to the Network creators on Ning ? They killed it ? My god. What a scam
Ning to Clients - Now You's Can't Leave | Charting Stocks says:
June 1st, 2009 at 7:47 pm
[...] written about the business practices of Ning.com before. The company offers a platform that allows anyone to create a social network for free. Sounds great [...]
Curious2knowmore says:
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:33 am
Are there any more articles that reveal/discuss some of the privacy/legal concerns and/or other problems w/ Ning? I’ve heard very good things about the company and want to make sure that the feedback here is legit before I change my mind about them. Thanks for the additional references/information if you have them.
JayzKickApps says:
June 3rd, 2009 at 11:41 am
Fed up with the Ning Sting? Own all of your data, members, and media! See the most powerful widget creation studio in world! And be confident you are with a company that delivers! The only serious choice for building an online interactive community is KickApps. We put the power in your hands. Cheers.
Beaconfire Wire » Blog Archive » Teens 4 Planet Earth Moves to Ning says:
June 10th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
[...] have been discussions and comments about Ning’s value, ethics, and change in business model (this is just one of many posts out there). We’ve been monitoring this debate for a while, as [...]
web 2.0 and other library stuff » Blog Archive » nings says:
June 13th, 2009 at 4:35 am
[...] to explore them later. However I cam accross this article on the wikipedia article about nings http://www.chartingstocks.net/2009/03/ning-exposed-tech-company-ning-scams-its-clients/ and now i am not so [...]
Plaintiff says:
June 22nd, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Anyone interested in litigating v. ning, to recover your substantial losses — email us at ramhiring@gmail.com. We are ning NC’s and we are suing the hell out of them, very soon. They did not screw us, without paying me for it. We are dead serious. Thx. Plaintiff
Jacob says:
July 6th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Was considering using them for a social network, thanks to this article, not any more.
Patty says:
July 8th, 2009 at 9:29 am
We used Ning for a small private network for our school district librarians. It worked great for us. We didn’t pay anything for it and we didn’t get any spam. So for our purposes we have not experienced any problems.
Thing 10: Ning « At the Fore-Edge says:
July 13th, 2009 at 5:39 am
[...] 13, 2009 · Leave a Comment After reading the ChartingStocks blog post about problems with Ning, I wasn’t sure I wanted to get any more involved with this Web 2.0 [...]
Jon Heinz says:
July 13th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
NING SUCKS. you cant find a dirtier company. they rob their clients by charging them money with one hand and stealing their members with the other.
North Texas 23: Thing 11 – Ning « The DAISY (ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2005) Connection says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 7:51 pm
[...] Tags: visual impairment, web design Since Ning exhibits such poor business practices (http://www.chartingstocks.net/2009/03/ning-exposed-tech-company-ning-scams-its-clients/), I’m really glad we didn’t have to sign up for an account. I logged on and explored [...]
Salvatore says:
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Hi,
I am very worried about the changes in TOS related to source code access. When I signed Ning in 2007 the TOS was very clear: I picked Ning over others because it was open source and in the administration area you could get a request form in order to get the source code by stating you were on your own feet for all the maintenance and patching activiies. Now I am not able to find that form anymore and I am wondering if Ning is not publishing their source code anymore. I made a post in the Ning Developer Network, so you can track the issue and answrs:
http://developer.ning.com/forum/topics/ning-source-code-access-not
suing ning says:
August 31st, 2009 at 10:21 am
I am preparing to SUE ning for the fraudulent scam they perpetrated on us. No joke. I am looking for a copy of the ning contract with an NC, circa 2007, in which ning made all the promises to NC’s: how we would own our sites, our members, have file access etc etc etc etc etc. Silly me, I trusted ning and did not know they we going to totally f*** us over 100%, or I would have made my own copy of this doc. (I will get it in discovery if no one sends me one)
As all of us NC’s know, ning breached ALL of those contract provisions an dthen hijacked our sites, costing us huge sums (in my case over $80,000). Now lawsuits like the one I will soon file v. ning, will remedy that. Please contact me at radioairwaves@gmail.com if you can assist me with this info, or would like to share Attorney info.
Thanks
art says:
September 11th, 2009 at 3:36 am
I was thinking of starting a big site with Ning, and googled the web for more info and came across this post.
Now I’m having second thoughts! What’s a good alternative?
Ning Exposed – Tech Company Scams its Clients « Ning says:
September 11th, 2009 at 4:35 am
[...] Exposed – Tech Company Scams its Clients By nextupresearch1 Clients of Ning are outraged over a decision that Ning made public last week. The software maker sent out an email to all of [...]
edie2k2 says:
September 11th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Absolutely and satisfyingly EXCELLENT write-up! *clapping* Superb! It really, really helps me to know that someone is onto Ning. I’ve felt this all along as I’ve watched the way they ‘work’.
They definately have their own agenda–and it isn’t nice. Bravo on your courageous article here.
If I was a premium subscriber I would be beyond consolation at this point. Doggone shame!
~E
Steven J says:
September 14th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
“art says:
SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2009 AT 3:36 AM
I was thinking of starting a big site with Ning, and googled the web for more info and came across this post.
Now I’m having second thoughts! What’s a good alternative?”
Your only alternative is SocialGO
They dedicate themselves tot he business owner and you can export all your content, pics, videos at the press of a button if you so wish.
They are listed on the UK stock exchange, are 100% transparent and they will not go against their published terms and conditions
You might not get so many ‘bells and whistles’ with them yet as they are newer, but they are coming up with a new release later in the month – loads of apps (widgets) and new ways to make money from your network.
SUING ning! says:
September 25th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
LAST CALL! I almost have enough other NCs who are going to team up with me and retain lawyers to send demands to ning to settle, or if they do not settle; sue them for sure. We are not doing a class action v. ning, as anyone familiar with class actions knows that only the class lawyers make anything on the deal. These will be individual cases v. ning. This law firm will be taking our cases on a contingency. If you want to recover your damages, ie. out of pockets and losses v. ning, email me at radioairwaves@gmail.com ASAP. I will not be looking for other plaintiffs again here. I am NOT a lawyer – I am a person burned by the ning scam, who is going to get my money (like around $80,000) back, and then some, for damn sure. All info will be held in confidence,and you may remain anonymous until we are ready to introduce other NC’s to these lawyers.
No ning says:
October 1st, 2009 at 7:25 am
I couldn’t even sign up with Ning! When I googling around, I came across this post, which explain why such thing happen. I was very upset with Ning. I think, Ning should be shut down due to the failure of delivering it’s promise.
deelee says:
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I came across this post because i was looking for information about ning. I am the victim of a scam by an administrator of many Ning networks. This man presents himself on many different websites in a false manner (we have businessman, philanthropist, music producer, artist or poet… you choose) and then preys on women (mostly) who believe his is going to help them find work. More about it here: http://clientmichaelbrittingham.wordpress.com/. Anyways… after I, and other of his victims, reported him, he was removed from LinkedIn and MySpace within days after they performed their own investigation. Ning are taking a completely spineless and incomprehensible position on this, either not answering our emails or sending us ridiculous claims that they cannot act, even after having received evidence that this man is going against their own terms and conditions. I’m sad to see that from what I read here… I guess these terms and conditions have no value.
I guess I can only now report them to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx) and go to the media with this story.
If any of you who are taking this to the legal level would be interested in our correspondence with Ning and their answers, please let me know. My contact info is on the blog linked above.
Scott Hampstead says:
November 17th, 2009 at 2:41 am
Beware of SocialGo.com – they have fraudulent practices. Google them. If you start to type social in google the first thing to popup is Socialgo Fraud. More than one customer has had problems with their cancellation policy. Socialengine.net, kickapps, dolphin, handshake and so many others offer a much better service.
Sonya Marvin says:
January 28th, 2010 at 12:52 am
Sweet Details I adore many of the articles which have been written, and especially the comments posted! I will definately be visiting again!
Sang Garin says:
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:21 am
Lots of Great information in your blogpost, I bookmarked your blog post so I can visit again in the near future, Cheers, Sang Garin