Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Andrew Sampson on March 20, 2013 at 7:38pm

Hi Jen

Well you wanted my input I guess!
You know what - I actually wouldn't expect anything else from a company called Glam Media.When I first heard the name I felt like hitting my head against the wall.

Why would anyone using Ning for charitable purposes want to be associated with an organisation with such a revolting name - I asked myself!

And when I first heard the news they were going to be upgrading and charging more - well to be honest I was not suprised.

Such a method of doing things could only be thought of by someone who called their company Glam Media!

Just go and look at their website http://www.glammedia.com/about_glam/ and you quickly get the picture.

OK having said that...

NING is a good product. Its not wonderful and the support from the developers from my experience is rubbish. Customer service is not what they do.

Good customer service would make the product better straight away.

When you posted your report about the new look NING I read it with great interest because I respect your opinion. If you say its going to be good then I believe you.

Will it be worth paying more for to a very small user like ourselves. Yes I think we will.

And there is one main reason. I just haven't found anything better for the price. And have I looked!

We have been considering how to improve our whole infrastructure and way fo doing things for almost 2 months now.

There are some really good products (and thats what NING is - a product) but the really good one's would cost way over our budget.

I don't mean the NING copycats and there are several. The real big professional people I am talking about.

And I guess that is really who NING is trying to aim at. They want the big companies who will be happy to shell out a couple of hundred dollars a month. The companies who realise quite rightly that Facebook isn't worth the money to advertise on. ( I read a really interesting report about that the other day).

By making NING better they will be able to market into the big company market I suspect.

And if you were Glam Media - who would you want as your customers. Small little non-profit organisations, little social networks of hobbyists?

Or would you want to aim for the big money spinners?

Sad as it may seem the sweet old days of NING are way way gone - and thats why the original owners went bust - well not bust - basically their investors called time.

This is the world we live in now - the world of companies called Glam Media. Except that the world is a-changing very fast and Glam Media will fade away and be eaten by a bigger shark one day.

(Which might also be the game-plan of course)

One day someone will also come along with the next NING. You can be sure of that too!

If its a company with a social conscience and a decent name - well we may well be out of here in a second!

Love and hugs to you Jen!

Andrew

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Permalink Reply by JenSocial on March 20, 2013 at 7:51pm

Hi Andrew,

Thank you for your thoughts, very interesting take on it all. And, I agree that the name Glam isn't the best name representation for a non-profit. Glam has been around a while, and the largest advertising agency of their kind - - social digital content with advertising based on the content.

Hopefully they will help make Ning even more popular, more feature rich, and moving forward. But again, I sure see your point. It's always sad to see things go "big and corporate", just to lose that hand holding and down home feel isn't fun. I do believe though, the Ning Team as individuals, truly care and want to be as helpful as possible. Time will tell. =)

Thanks again,

Jen

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Sampson on March 20, 2013 at 7:58pm

Hi Jen

Yes you are right and in a way I committed a very common error! Companies are actually run by people who work in them.

And I can imagine the people who are working on the coal-face are as human as you and I.
It will be interesting to stick around and see what the new version is all about...

A

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Permalink Reply by JenSocial on March 20, 2013 at 8:03pm

Hi Andrew,

I just wanted you to know, I truly think they care. =)

Have a nice day,

Jen

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Permalink Reply by Code Whacker on March 20, 2013 at 7:40pm

I left Ning over the great lie and broken promise of free for ever 3 years ago. I moved on to Wall.fm and suffered the problems of being on a network, site down time and then a product swinging from alpha to beta back to alpha. Lost a lot of members got totally jarred off. 

I now run my own sites on a fast hosting server using the stand alone Oxwall platform of which has a now improved installation. I take my time in upgrading the product and run a test site to ensure upgrades are bug free. My move was due to poor service and the fact that free site were down sized in disk space and bandwidth. Part of a crafty move to not look like they had the Ning attitude to free sites. The second part being released one month ago. Where as new uses if they want a free site have to beg to paying clients to get a free site code. The point is paid plan developer are not passing on codes in fact it was only me that was doing so on the help forum. I have stop doing that as yesterday.

For those that are thinking of moving over to a paid plan on Wall.fm. Its not a very good idea within a few months or so you will be tearing your hair out. Its best to go Oxwall.  I run by the way the independent developers site  http://CodeWhacker.com and help anyone that decides to go Oxwall. 

 

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Permalink Reply by JenSocial on March 20, 2013 at 7:55pm

Hi Code Whacker,

Thanks for your thoughts, and especially for your insight and experience with wall.fm and your recent hosted choice, Oxwall. It sounds promising. Let's get you a link in here, in case anyone is interested in Oxwall. CodeWhacker.com

Always good to see you,

Jen

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Permalink Reply by Code Whacker on March 21, 2013 at 12:00am

your very welcome Jen, thanks 

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Permalink Reply by 7H on March 20, 2013 at 7:47pm

Hello Jen, all, 

I'm replying BEFORE I read other comments.  

It's been a few days since I read the remarks on Creators Ning too.

My first impressions are positive on most counts.

I am presently in the "excited to test some of the features, ready for the challenge, hoping I can survive at the Performance Level; uncertain if I'll be able to stay if I must go to the business level.

Agree that many of the changes are NEEDED.

HOPING that the return of the Events calendar will include at least some of the improvements I've been pleading for...

Trying to stay positive and roll with the glitches, adapt to the changes [with 160+ groups on our site, I hope the rollover of whatever the redesigned groups feature will be will go smoothly without hours and hours of work on our end...

I know I'll enjoy the banter (pro and con) and the learning that will come from everyone's input.

Smiles and encouragement and best wishes to all,

Holly

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Permalink Reply by JenSocial on March 20, 2013 at 7:58pm

Hi Holly!

Thanks for jumping in - - great way to move forward with this change. =) I have confidence that the groups will migrate from 2.0 to 3.0 with ease, once the migration tool has been implemented. Let's hope I don't eat those words.

Best to you as always,

Jen

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Permalink Reply by Carny Town on March 20, 2013 at 8:13pm

Too early to say if we can stay. With over 6500 members, we will be on a level that is far too expensive for us right now. We cannot really afford the plus site we have. Advertising dried up when the economy in the USA took a dump and our members are mostly on the road and would not pay when there are so many competing sites on Facebook. But will take a look at the options this week and see if there is a way with 3.0 to make an extra buck. Right now it looks like the only real positive thing is the change to responsive. All the rest of my/our sites are already responsive with the use of Wordpress and the Pagelines theme. My gut feeling is that Ning is at least six months to a year behind everyone else, but once it is responsive it is possible that more smartphone usage can happen. First thoughts. Too expensive and nothing really that new. Taking music away is a terrible decision. Not having to pay ASCAP and BMI was a big plus for music networks. You can take a look at how I use Ning at www.carnytown.com. Chrome or Firefox is suggested. Since Ning is now, not responsive, it may not show up well in Explorer. The answer. Not sure but suggest Ning consider something like Pagelines sections that would automatically be responsive.

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Permalink Reply by JenSocial on March 20, 2013 at 8:21pm

Hi Tom,

Good to hear from you. It's already responsive, best I can tell. But, we have to wait for all of the features to be implemented. I'm guessing it'll be close to a year before we see all that we have in Ning 2.0, maybe sooner.

Best of luck with everything,

Jen

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Permalink Reply by Drilling Ahead on March 20, 2013 at 9:04pm

I would have to be a Ning.COM POOP to like what I have heard about the new platform-sorry for the pun-its in response to the reply that Glam is listeNING...Trade in our own branded player and our own hosted video platform for one that does not allow this? Then charge more? Sounds to me like Glam/ning is trying to lower bandwidth cost and charge more for it.

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