Blog homeWho has heard of Ning? Anyone?
Ning is a platform on which you can build pretty much any website you like (you can have direct SFTP access to files hosted on their infrastructure) however most people know Ning as a site where you can create your own social network.
The distinction between a “platform” and a web application is important here as it is the platform capabilities that gives Ning that extra power that developers demand.
But what if you don’t want a social network? (yet)
A social network isn’t about any specific individual piece of functionality.
At the heart of Ning they provide a forum, blogs, image and video hosting etc….. so if you just want a forum on your site - you could use Ning - and think about how you are going to incorporate other features later.
Some example travel websites using Ning
Small Fish Big Ocean - my own social network for small tour operators and niche agents discussing topics on travel ecommerce. Please come and join and ask questions and help others.
TourCMS community - again run by us. This one is for the support and discussion of our tour operator reservation system. We use the blog system to announce latest system releases etc while customers ask us questions (and sometimes get replies!) via the forums.
Cheapflights.com [US] - forums, photos and videos. Cheapflights want you to talk about your flight experiences, favourite destinations and upcoming trips. [See also article on Travel Weekly about this]
Turismo 2.0 - Spanish language website for travel industry 2.0 discussion!
Uncover the world - An example from a small tour operator - this site has latest tour factsheets, some great photos submitted by previous customers and staff - and a neatly integrated special offer RSS feed.
Ideas for using Ning on your site
- Create a private Ning site for post booking, pre travel customers - to assist with travel planning etc
- Create a private Ning site for post travel customers - for putting up photos and sharing memories
- Use Ning as a forum on your site
- Put your entire site on Ning….. !
I have two key points that are important if you are considering buying a social networking service for your company:
- Generic social networking tools - such as Ning - offer much better value than travel industry specific tools. There isn’t much you can’t do on Ning (if you know how the platform works) - many people believe, wrongly, that you can only tweak the look and feel slightly - this is wrong - you can access the files and make as many changes or hacks as you like.
- Go “software as a service” - i.e. use a hosted product. In the social sector there are so many opportunities to mashup one service with another that if you go your own route - unless you are wishing to become a specialist social site - it will be technically less challenging if you let someone else worry about it for you. I also know this from the other side as a provider of hosted software….. in essence, with our two Ning communities, I am eating my own dog food.
Any other Ning travel websites that should be highlighted?
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if you like Ning, wait till you see the new www.mindz.com business-social software ( free) ….European launch in september…
I am a Ning platform user. I have found it very user friendly and in constant search for improvements and new features. Launching a Social Networking Site with Ning is quite easy. Growing the membership is another matter. It may require good marketing skills and some investment in advertising and promotion. I launched the Canadamigos Social Network, www.canadamigos.com late December 2007. To date the network has grown to over 1,700 active members and over 5,000 visits per month. The site’s purpose is to foster Travel & Friendship among Canadians, Hispanic-Canadians and Hispanics everywhere. Members come from all over the Americas and Spain, including members in the US. The site promotes travel to Canada by sharing travel stories, photos and videos. While Canada is the focus members are also promoting the places they live (e.g. Spain, South America) by also sharing images and information.
Love your musings. I check it out on my Google reader almost every day.
Regards,
Jaime Horwitz
www.canadamigos.com
www.canadiantourismblog.ca
good thing with Ning is that almost everyone can set up their own social network, resulting in many specialized social networks focusing on niches. Image also how interesting this is for advertisers…
However, of all those social networks only a few will be succesfull in large numbers. For cheapflights this should not be a problem, as they already have the resources for marketing efforts as well as the current solid userbase who frequently uses cheapflights’ search engine..
I am a Ning platform user.
Do You know about a market place app to Ning?
TKS.
Hi Leo
There are a few - I just found in Google. Not sure I want to link to any as I have no idea if they are any good or not.
Best wishes. Alex