NING Alternatives via Stephen Downes

I don’t normally wholly post others blog posts, but I think spreading the word about alternatives to NING, which will be ending its free service, is a useful thing. So thanks for Stephen for putting this together. I had collected a few more, but I’ll add them to the Alternatives to Ning GoogleDoc! The issue of “free, hosted, self hosted, propriatary, open” or whatever is a key technology stewardship challenge. We make the decision for lots of reasons, but the landscape is always changing. Sigh.

Today has been an active day in the community as people consider alternatives to Ning. An Alternatives to Ning. document has been set up and is being collectively written. Wes Fryer also considers alternatives. Sylvia Curry has a screencast of the document being updated. Meanwhile, ReadWriteWeb almost gloatingly pulls out the there’s no free lunch line (which annoys me, as the proposition is demonstrably falsifiable). The Blog Herald is also gleeful: “If you want to stay, you have to pay.” Vicki A. Davis observes, “This Ning situation is yet another obstacle that we must overcome because truly, the world isn’t Flat.” Marc Canter says, “The migration has begun. No wonder Gina never put in Export… she knew it was something that would be needed – eventually.” Wired says simply, “Ning fails at free social networking. Alex Couros, Couros Blog,

via Ning Alternatives, Collaboration, & Self Hosting ~ Stephen’s Web ~ by Stephen Downes.