Can NING ever compete with LinkedIN?

[Ken]

I continue to be amazed at the growth of LinkedIN. I've created one group on LinkedIN in Feb this year and now 9 mths later its approaching 2000 members - without me doing anything, with more joining every day! Amazing!

I've got a counterpart network on NING, its only got 300 members, albeit it was started later. So even though LinkedIN seems to have limited features, its still growing fast.

LinkedIN has obviously been around a lot longer - but the question remains....can NING compete with LinkedIN for professional networking? and if so - what will it take to get the masses to move to NING?

Your views appreciated.

Ken

[Ken]

Anyone?

[Steven S. Bammel]

The LinkedIn groups are like houses of cards. There is no way to differentiate one from another and the LinkedIn approach is too closed to overcome that. For example, in my area, which is "Korean Business" I was able to join ten groups on LInkedIn about Korean business; every one is like every other one. When someone is looking for a job in Korea, they just go from group to group posting the exact same message to every one. I was able to add 1,000+ people to my LinkedIn network by just going through the members on the LinkedIn groups and inviting them one at a time. I've now got everybody's email address. My approach is to post links to my Ning page content on a regular basis. With persistence, this is getting me a steady trickle of new members to my site. As I see it, the LinkedIn groups have gathered my member prospects together and are making my job easier as a Ning site creator.

[Peter Matthews]

It would be good to see in what ways the visibility of a LinkedIN group can be used to support the development of a corresponding Ning Network. Can we combine the advantages of both systems in a synergistic way, while giving people useful experiences in both locations? Using LinkedIn just to gather new members for Ning seems like hard work, unless perhaps it is done explicitly, so that people visiting or joining a LinkedIN group have no expectations that it will be developed as an active site.

If we can afford it, direct marketing to professionals in a particular subject area, using a careful and ethical direct marketing service, is probably more cost effective, if the cost of our own time is put into the equation.

Does Linked-In provide a superior internal search system, or do they have the same limited search functions and erratic site-indexing as at Ning?

At the Research Cooperative (nw with 1,400 members), I am trying to build a community that includes not just qualified professionals, but also young researchers, language specialists, and others who might like to gain experience in order to become professional.

The primary goal of this network is not to support and moderate discussions, but to help people find each-other. For this, the search functions are critical. The flexibility in arrangement of Ning features has been great, but the failure of the internal search system seems to be the Achilles heel of the network.

I doubt that moving to another host system could solve the problem because from what I have seen, internal search systems are minimally developed on most networks.

[Steven S. Bammel]

You're right. Finding a way for the groups to work together is a better approach than just trying to poach members. My thinking has moved on since my previous post. However, it is not yet clear to me how the LinkedIn groups could work in parallel with a Ning group. I'm getting ready to ask a few LinkedIn moderators to try to get feedback.

Ning search functionality is limited. I know that LinkedIn search is much better, especially the paid subscription. In fact, the LinkedIn search functions are so powerful even without groups, I would think that you'd want to introduce more than just networking in order to maximize the value of your Ning group.

[Peter Matthews]

Hi Steven,

On another research-related network recently, I set up a group entitled "Research Cooperative Feedback" and explained that I was hoping people would use this group page to discuss the Research Cooperative site, and to give constructive criticism even if they do not join the Research Cooperative.

No one has joined that group yet, but it may eventually serve a useful function, if my Ning network starts to attract wider attention. P.

[Marco Ciccolini]

Daes anybody know if by ning is it possible to construct a business model as linked in?

any advices?

tnk you

m

[Ken]

I've been trying to do this - but I don't think its possible with the current version of NING.

 

The frustrating thing is that I don't think it would take that much to get it there - but seems that NING isn't attempting to provide the features (or APIs) to let us do this.   

 

I note that one of the founders of LinkedIN is a major investor in NING - so maybe NING doesn't want to compete with one of its major investors!!

 

Anyone from NING want to comment?

Ken

[Marco Ciccolini]

thanks Ken, it is a clear perspective.. could u advice any suitable CMS ?

 

will be very pleased help even from Ning.

[Ecomm-unity.com]

i believe you will not be able to compete against LinkedIn, i the way of getting hundreds of millions of users every day. but definitively as a specifyed niche. On LinkedIn you will carry eventually a lot of junk updates and irrelevant information thru multiple contacts, thing that you can better target on your dedicated network. but make it special, this is the only way to have the reecuring member entering day in day out on your network.

[Peter Matthews]

Dear Ken,

You may have 2000 members on your LinkedIn Group, but if your goal is to get bigger, the limitations of LinkedIn will become more obvious.

You will have very few options for structuring and guiding the interactions within your group in ways that maximise benefit for your aims and the aims of the people joining your group.

For all the limitations inside a Ning Network, we have way more control and flexibility to create and organise subgroups, give our members options to do the same, and to employ not only the Ning search system, but also external search systems, though my preference is already the Ning internal search (which I am dearly hoping will become a major area for creative development by Ning engineers).

My network on Ning has almost 4000 members now, with a lot of effort, but also with a lot more potential for useful interactions than would exist if they were all members of a single LinkedIn group with no internal structure.

If you like what I am saying here, please discuss it with Ning. I have been trying (over years) to push Ning (from my vantage is a crumb on their horizon) to make search functionality and customability a major area for development inside Ning Networks.

I believe these are key ingredients that will give them (and we Network Creators) an edge and a niche in a world dominated by social networks managed in a top-down manner by a small numebr of gloabl network leaders. The global networks are great, for some purposes, but the global ecology of social networking also requires the Ning model of generic network construction that can be customised and scaled for any purpose independently of the global giants, and by any existing group of people, numbering from one or more.

If I had the means to invest in Ning (and Glam), I would!

Peter (Admin, The Research Cooperative) (an enterprise starting from one)