Ning (website)

Ning is an online social media network platform for people and organizations to create custom social networks.[3] Ning was co-founded by Marc Andreessen and Gina Bianchini and launched in October 2005.[2] By June 2011 there were over 90,000 social websites running on the Ning Platform.[4]

Ning, Inc.
Type of businessSubsidiary
Type of site
Social networking service, Community building platform
Available inMultilingual
FoundedPalo Alto, California (2004 (2004))[1]
HeadquartersPalo Alto, California, U.S.
Founder(s)
Employees>50 (2014)[1]
URLwww.ning.com
LaunchedOctober, 2005[2]

History

Ning started development in October 2004 and launched its platform publicly in October 2005.[5]

At its launch, Ning was a free-form platform for the development and hosting of open-source "social applications".[5] The source code for Ning applications was available to users so that anyone could fork a Ning application, modify its PHP code and run it as their own. In late September 2006, Ning narrowed its focus to offering a group website, a photos website, and a videos website for people to copy and use for any purpose. These three templates were later superseded by a single customizable application aimed at enabling anyone to easily create their own social network.

Ning was initially funded internally by Bianchini, Andreessen and angel investors. In July 2007, Ning raised US$44 million in venture capital, led by Legg Mason.[6] In 2008 and 2009, the company announced it had raised an additional US$75 million in capital.[7][8]

On April 15, 2010, CEO Jason Rosenthal announced that the free service would be suspended, and 41% of the employees would be laid off. Users of the free service had the option to either upgrade to a paid account or transition their content from Ning.[9] In 2011, Ning was purchased by Glam Media[10][11] and then officially acquired by Mode Media.[12]

Features

Ning allows users to create their own communities and social networks around specific interests with their own visual design, choice of features and member data.[13] Ning provides several core features, including opportunities for monetization, integration with other social networks, chat, email services, forums, polls and analytics.[14][15][16] Customers are also able to map a Ning social network to a custom domain.[17]

The social networks running on Ning's service are programmed with PHP and the platform itself is built in Java.[18] Since October 2010, social networks using Ning can be administered through an iOS application.[19]

In February 2018, Ning launched a monetization platform, enabling users to earn an income from their social websites.[20]

See also

References
  1. "Corporate Info, History" Archived 2011-07-30 at the Wayback Machine, Ning. Retrieved June 12, 2011.
  2. Ok, I am excited by Gina Bianchini, Ning Blog, October 3, 2005
  3. Social Graph-iti, The Economist, Oct 18, 2007
  4. With Revenue Up 400%, Ning Adds Paid Access Service, Tomio Geron, Forbes, June 15, 2011
  5. Andreessen adds some Ning to the Web, by Martin LaMonica, CNET news, Oct 6, 2005
  6. Ning news: new investment round Archived 2007-10-20 at the Wayback Machine, by Marc Andreesen, blog.pmarca.com, Jul 9, 2007
  7. Ning news: Series D investment round Archived 2009-01-29 at the Wayback Machine, by Marc Andreessen, April 18, 2008
  8. Ning Raises $15 Million More at a–Yes, Really–$750 Million Valuation, by Kara Swisher, AllThingsD.com, July 21, 2009
  9. TechCrunch - Ning’s Bubble Bursts: No More Free Networks, Cuts 40% Of Staff
  10. "Glam Media Buys Marc Andreessen's Ning". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  11. "Glam Buys Ning For $150 Million, Andreessen Joins Board". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  12. Spangler, Todd (2016-09-16). "Mode Media Shuts Down: Women-Focused Digital Player Once Valued at $1 Billion". Variety. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  13. Web pioneer touts Ning Inc. as easy to use social network Archived 2009-05-31 at the Wayback Machine, by Michael Liedtke, Rocky Mountain News, Mar 5, 2007
  14. "Ning Creators Social Network". creators.ning.com. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
  15. "How to create your own social network | NING Social Platform in use". NING. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
  16. "NING Features: Create & cultivate your unique community website". NING. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
  17. "What Is Ning and Is It Worth Using?". Lifewire. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  18. Andreessen: PHP succeeding where Java isn't, by Stephen Shankland, CNET News, Oct 19, 2005
  19. Just one more thing…, Evan Goldin on October 20, 2010
  20. GmbH, finanzen.net. "NING, a Social Website Builder, is Putting Forth Two Major Updates: Landing Page Builder and the iDeal Payment Method Integration | Markets Insider". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
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