Ning Takes Important First Step; But Is it Enough?
Monday, March 23, 2009 17:07
We’re happy to report that today Ning announced that it has reconsidered and reversed its previous decision to email the members of all Ning networks. Ning has decided not to email members of social networks who pay to keep Ning ads off of their site. Here’s an excerpt from the email:
“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.”
While there remains practices which we find unfair, it is extremely encouraging to see a company that can realize its mistakes, listen to its clientele and come out publicly to make necessary changes. We truly applaud Ning for it’s recent policy reversal.
But is it enough? Since yesterdays post, Charting Stocks has become a de facto forum for Ning Creators (With no fear of being deleted), both satisfied and unsatisfied. We encourage a healthy debate which is both for and against Ning’s policies but would ask that if there is something which you FACTUALLY disagree with to please be specific. Yes, Ning has the best social networking platform on the market. We’ve never questioned that. We question the companies business practices and treatment of its client base.
Ning Network Creators Bill of Rights
Why not use this de facto Ning forum to come up with a bill of rights for network creators? We believe that we were somewhat influential in Ning’s policy reversal of today. Members have been complaining for weeks, but a bit of blogospheric attention from a relatively highly visited site may have moved matters along.
Why stop there? We would love to hear all of your suggestions. At the end of one week, we can compile all of the data and come up with one “NC Bill of Rights,” which can be presented to Ning. The company has proved willing to listen to criticism, if that criticism is loud enough. A bill of rights, which Ning creators got behind and emailed to Ning executives, posted on their Ning sites, their off-ning blogs, etc WILL trigger a response. Pissing and moaning on a Ning site, which they can, and do delete, isn’t going to work. NC’s need one plan which they pound the table on.
Some possible ideas may include:
- The right to view and edit the files on your own (Ning) website
- The right to express any critical view of Ning without getting your comments deleted or membership banned in the network creators forum
- The right to have ANY content you wish on your own site if you are a paying client.
- The right to remove ALL of your members from a Ning.com search
- The right to disallow ALL member invites across Ning social networks. To finally put an end to the “Come Join Me” spam invites.
Those are just a few to get the party started 
Was the word “Scam” to harsh?
Scam, as defined by thefreedictionary.com (first one that came up in a google search) is to “deprive somebody of something by deceit.” Were not the creators of mature websites deprived? Were they not deceived into thinking that Ning would never get involved in their sites content? Aren’t the members of the network creators forum being deprived of information by the monitoring and deleting of opposing comments? Isn’t that deceitful? Lastly, is it not deceitful to advertise your services as a social network platform, a platform in which YOU control the content and own the data only to change policies and become a competing social network of your own, built on the hard work and money of other people?
My goal is NOT to smear Ning. If they were willing to reverse some policy decisions, Ning would be my first choice in creating a Charting Stocks social network, though something tells me that I may not be very welcomed. I think that Ning started out as an innovative company build on excellent customer service. 6-8 months of bad decisions does not cause the failure of a company or business – As long as they catch it and rectify it. My grandfather used to tell me that “The customer was always right.”
Stooge Comments?
We find is odd that some “Network 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 data? How can you be pleased with the likely diminished value of your website should you try to sell it? Sure, a social network who owns its own member data exclusively and whos members do not receive constant “Come Join Me” spam email invites is worth considerably more (All other things being equal) than one on Ning. Why would that delight a network creator?
Related posts:
On-Ning says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:54 pm
i noticed in your previous post that you commented on 50 cent and porn on his site. i can see your point but i am more concerned over censorship and freedom. ownership of your content as well. who should have the right to tell you what is or isnt “Appropriate” on YOUR website?? my vote would be to keep ning inspectors away from our sites
BOFonNing says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 7:34 pm
bill of rights = good idea. my top concerns are: #1 the privacy of my members data, i do not want it on ning.com!!!! #2, SPAMMMMMMMMM they have to do something about all of the god dam spammmmmm
Ning Exposed - Tech Company Ning Scams its Clients | Charting Stocks says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:43 pm
[...] 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 [...]
Sistah Vine says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:47 pm
We have to be more aware about our rights to our creativity within our social networks! I think the Bill of Rights is a good idea…Ning has to be willing to work with it’s exisisting network creators!!! Ownership of our hard work within our social networks is important just like I am sure they feel ownership of the Ning busi is important to them!
I want to believe that we have internet entrupenurs who still believe in honesty, equality, and protection of creativity for the creators within the Ning website/Business!!!!!! Please keep informing us thanks!
chartingstocks1 says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:09 pm
thanks Sistah. i’ll count that as a vote for ownership of content..photos, files, etc
Atkins08 says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:16 pm
maybe off topic but here’s a good suggestion by a ning creator
Ning just needs to realize that there are two classes of Network Creators:
1. FREE: for hobbyists and enthusiasts. These networks may benefit from being part of Ning.com and typically don’t care about links back to Ning or member privacy.
2. PREMIUM: for network creators who are running a business, spending money on advertising to grow their site, and are trying to make a profit. These are typically not interested in being part of Ning.com and want to have total control over members and their privacy.
The reality is that there really is no “one size fits all”. Their goals and strategies differ significantly and I think Ning should cater to both.
For #2, the ideal would be a full white-label solution (even if it was for an added fee). Premium sites should have the option to operate independently from Ning if they choose to do so. Ning should NOT contact their members directly, Ning.com users should not be able to solicit their members, and the NC’s should have the option to opt out of Ning.com altogether.
Let’s just hope they listen to us and reconsider.
If you agree with this, please voice your opinion to Ning!
Atkins08 says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:17 pm
PS – Awesome site!
MYTWOCENTZ says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:23 pm
cool site. i like the idea of a bill of rights. my main issue is privacy and spam. i have been asking ning to do something about the invite spam for a year now. a lot of members have. they refuse to do anything about it because its beneficial to them to have people join more than one ning network. they may actually figure out who ning is at that point. but its damaging to my site. when our interests (the creator) conflicts with Ning’s – WE GET F&CKED
NingTruther says:
March 24th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
we should be able to remove ALL ning links when we pay for it! ning always sneaks them in .the .”yikes” page , sign in page, the “help” link. why should the help link on MY SITE lead back to Ning.com???? if I pay to remove ning links!
the other issue is the privacy. i cant believe the sheer stupidity and arrogance that ning has. taking OUR member data and posting it on THEIR site for the public to see. thats stealing in my book. i didnt work to get ning members. truthfully NO ONE outside of the tech community, and a few network owners, EVER HEARD OF NING. which is a problem for them i suppose, if they want to become the next facebook
Deb says:
March 24th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
First, the right to your own work…this is about intellectual property, which Ning is in violation of by not allowing us access to. Photos we already have on our pcs. But what about blogs and articles? We own those, they belong to us, and we need to be able to take them with us.
- The right to express any critical view of Ning without getting your comments deleted or membership banned in the network creators forum…if Ning wasn’t AFRAID of negative publicity, if they were actually that secure with their decisions, they’d allow us to make critical comments, and listen to them constructively.
-The right to remove ALL of your members from a Ning.com search…This is a BIGGY for me! I have a site that is about anonymity, so to have my members pasted out for everyone to see, really hurts me. Once they finally find out, they will distrust, and leave. This isn’t helping me get members, it will cause me to lose them.
- The right to disallow ALL member invites across Ning social networks. To finally put an end to the “Come Join Me” spam invites…My site is by invitation only. I do NOT want to receive more members because somebody just ‘decided’ they wanted to join! My network is growing very quickly without Ning’s help.
Ning doesn’t care about the NC. They only care about the $ and POWER. Isn’t that what it’s always about?
Bill says:
March 24th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
After reading those posts, I went to ning.com and went through all their settings. I cut out a lot of information about myself; I still want to participate in those ning-hosted sites, but not at the benefit of ning to make a myspace out of itself!
lindawform says:
March 24th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
same with me i never even heard of ning.com but when i read about the “come join me here” emails, i finally realized where all of that spam was coming from. i guess one of the websites i joined was a site that uses ning.com i went to and deleted all my info. not cool. hope the spam stops
Gregg Nelson says:
March 24th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Mate what a joke that NING is…On the 23rd of March 2008 I wrote the following to Vince edwards of “SCRiPTS4NING” as he is also the network creator of KiwiPulse a website that Oziwi.com (my ning based website) was trying to purchase from Mr Edwards. Here is an excerpt of the communication
Ning for us is a low cost beta of the concept and its
>>>>>>> goal
>>>>>>> is
>>>>>>> to prove there is a business case which on current levels has
>>>>>>> been proven. Investing too much money in developing on the
>>>>>>> Ning platform is a little Dangerous from the point of view we
>>>>>>> have no control over the decision processes within Ning. ie
>>>>>>> the owner of Ning who also owns LinkedIn could sell to Google
>>>>>>> or Yahoo etc and then they could shelve it leaving your brand
>>>>>>> and community feeling a little pissed off. With Ning this will
>>>>>>> always be a contingent liability forever. Who knows if Ning
>>>>>>> plan to get donkeys like us to create the audience then
>>>>>>> develop a single Social network that emcompasses all the
>>>>>>> various fragmentations and niches developing into groups
>>>>>>> within the new single network?
>>>>>>>
Not long after that our website was terminated by NING…How true my words turned out to be…..
TLOD says:
March 24th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
The right to freedom of speech! They just declined my membership to the network creators forum even though I’ve hardly said a thing about this mess! I wanted to make a positive contribution and try and open a dialogue with them in order to help them understand why we aren’t happy with these changes and how to make the whitelabelling actually work and end the conflict with whitelabel network creators. Now they have just made me angry. Way to radicalise your members!
chartingstocks1 says:
March 24th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
lol TLOD. what an insane request to make. not that you made it, but that you HAVE to make it. its unreal.
HEY LETS MOVE THIS DISCUSSION OVER TO THE FORUM. ITLL GET JUICY IN THERE SOON! PROMISE!!!!
http://www.chartingstocks.net/forum/
NC says:
March 24th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
I guess I’m just reiterating here, but…
- The ownership rights to my network’s content. I want to be able to create backups and and to take my content and members with me at any time I choose to leave. I brought my members to Ning and they should be thanking me for it, not punishing me by screwing up my business.
- YES, the right to remove my members’ public profiles! Not just for my own financial interest, but because this is a privacy/security disaster and a stalker’s dream come true. There is a reason that only friends of people can see their pages on facebook!
- YES, the right to disallow ALL cross-network spam to my members. We’ve had contributers to our network turn around and stab us in the back and steal our members so many times I can’t even count. We must have at least 20 copycat sites whose member base is entirely stolen from ours.
- A GENUINE white-label service! No more sneaky Ning links plastered everywhere! No spam and member privacy by default!
I don’t understand why Ning think these latest changes are going to be beneficial to their business. Shuffling members around social networks doesn’t expand your member base, it just angers the white-label NCs who are bringing in most of those members! The way things stand at the moment, I would shut down my networks tomorrow if I could afford to lose the income. If Ning made the changes above, I would consider staying with their platform…
I would happily pay 3x what I am paying now for these changes. It makes no business sense for us to create any more networks on Ning under their current TOS. They are shooting themselves in the foot.
Ning.com Exposed! « TJ Marsh’s Weblog says:
March 25th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
[...] 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 [...]
Mark says:
March 31st, 2009 at 5:47 am
As I understand it, under the CAN SPAM ACT it is illegal to email anyone who hasn’t specifically authorised yo to send them promotional material.
They have to have ticked a box that says, yes I want you to send me marketing material..
This could be a monumental legal nightmare for Ning.
Ambassador KLOK KAOS says:
April 27th, 2009 at 6:50 am
I’m new to ning and have enjoyed the platform significantly after transferring my users through several other less effective platforms.
Personally I don’t want ning on my website telling me what to do, the very notion of having your own site is that you moderate it how you see fit. If you’re just going to be told how to run your site, why not just join another network and let them tell you what to put in your group for free rather than pay ning?
I can do everything on facebook or myspace that I can do on ning and get told how to moderate. I go to ning because I pay them to stay out of my business so my users can run around posting whatever they like within (federal limits), not so they can be told “how behave in class”.
So far they haven’t interfered with anything but if and when they do it may be a deal breaker and I may go elsewhere and there is plenty of other platforms. I think the real problem is the investors/devs don’t understand that they don’t control the internet and if they don’t take care of their customers, someone else will. In a true democracy and free market such as the internet, being king means you please more people more often, not that you get to order around your subjects as if they were your fodder.
I’d be sad to lose the platform, but I’d rather lose it than jump through subjective hoops about what is and is not adult content. 50 cent is not special, if he gets porn we all do or we leave, end of story. I don’t see why it’s a problem anyhow. Who cares? It’s not like you’re going to stop pornography from occurring on the net >=/ That crusade died before it began. That being the case they should just build tools designed to protect themselves like verification “I am 18+” buttons on adult sites.
The answer is always solutions, not restrictions, and I hope they figure that out before they do any more line crossing.
Unsettling News About Our Community says:
June 9th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
[...] Ning Takes Important First Step; But Is it Enough? [...]
Anthony says:
October 17th, 2009 at 8:50 am
Good job people…I’m in. I will be speding money on time on my social network and I would like to know my investment, data and privacy is protected.