Ning is the popular online platform that allows you to create your own social networking site. Think Facebook but you can tailor your site depending on your specific needs and tastes.
You’ll find that each Ning network has slightly different features but they all generally allow users to blog, connect with other Ning members, and discuss relevant issues in network forums.
So how can having a Ning network benefit your radio station?
Well you can promote what you do to a whole new online audience. Members can share ideas about new programmes and can feedback on what they have listened to on the station. Members can post information on community activities and encourage discussion on everything from your local gardening group to neighbourhood watch in the area. People can add photos from station events like outside broadcasts and outreach projects. It’s all about building an online community and connecting people who share a common interest…..and that interest could be your radio station.
So how do you get started?
All you have to do is sign up for a Ning account at http://www.ning.com/main/signup
Then start to customise your site. Maybe you want a social network for keeping in touch with volunteers and listeners in general? Or perhaps you just want a social network for a particular show? It’s your call, it’s your network.
Here are a few community organisations using Ning –
So do you fancy setting up your own Ning site for your station?
Using Ning to set up Social Networks
Setting up social networks on Ning can be a great (and free!) way to generate interest around an issue or bring a community together. They can be places full of interesting content; photos, audio, video and conversations. An example of a great community network which was set up on Ning is www.harringayonline.com for the residents of a north London town. With over 1500 members, it’s a great place to share information, assess opinion and reach out to residents.
On Road Media supports marginalised communities to use social media well. Along with partner organisations we were recently commissioned to set up www.savvychavvy.com (also built on Ning), a social network for young Gypsies in the UK. ‘Chavvy’ is the Romany word for ‘child’ and it has 3000 members. In July 2008 it won the first Catalyst Communities award and it’s a thriving safe space where young people can have discussions, find family members, make friends and arrange events and meet-ups.
Rosina Hughes,17, from Wareham, Dorset says, “it’s great to have a site where you feel comfortable and safe discussing these things…they have Gypsy hate groups, so it’s important that we have our own space.”
Technically, setting up a network on Ning is as easy as creating a Hotmail account. Here are our top ten tips to get you started.
1. Purpose: Firstly, you need to consider the purpose of your network – who will be your members and why will they use this website above others? What need does your network address?
2, Set Up: Go to www.ning.com and set up your network, choosing a catchy name and Ning web address. It’s very simple; all you need is an email address and it takes a couple of minutes
3. Privacy: Choose how public or private it is going to be – can everyone on the web see and contribute to your network or will it be closed and private for your members only?
4. Tagline: Give your network a tagline and short description – what’s it all about? The tagline should consist of one pithy sentence, E.g. www.savvychavvy.com: ‘A social network for young Gypsies and Travellers in the UK’
5. Features: Next, add features to your network. You can drag and drop functions like ‘forum’, ‘chat’, ‘blog’, ‘video’ & ‘photos’ into the front page. You might, for example, place the ‘forum’ function prominently in the middle of the page if having discussions is the main purpose of your network
6. Design: Choose a design – Ning will give you lots of templates to choose from and you can customize one with your own choice of images, fonts and colours.
7. Content: Your network is now ready for content – help to define the network’s identity by starting discussions, posting photos, adding videos etc that are relevant to the purpose of the website
8. People: Invite people to the network – start by inviting relevant people and welcoming them by writing a note on their pages.
If you’re trying to attract a certain community don’t send out blanket invites to attract a volume of members – the quality and relevance of your members is what will help it grow and develop into a sustainable space. You can support this by writing your own relevant joining up questions
9. Engage: Keep the community active and interested – once you have a working network, keep your members engaged by making small changes to the site, adding new content and sending them relevant information (without spamming them with constant messages!)
10. Extras: Ning is free but you can purchase optional services like the removal of ads, the ability to use your own domain name and extra storage
However, although setting up a website on Ning is as simple as creating a hotmail account, creating a thriving network of people online is trickier! Here are some tips we have learned over the years when creating a community website.
- Make sure the existing leaders in the community understand and embrace what is planned – but do not expect them necessarily to be the leaders online.
- Be prepared for the community to reshape the objectives. It will thrive if it meets real needs, and ambassadors will emerge.
- Investment in people – their training and support – is more important than investment in technology.
- Keep it simple, and make sure that when people go home after training they can do everything for themselves without further training.
- Keep the ongoing costs of the technology low, and if possible free.
- Sustainability is achieved through low costs and ownership of the project by the community.
- Be prepared to use commercial platforms to achieve this, rather than bespoke sites that require continuing technical support.
- Do not assume, if you are working with marginalised communities, that they will necessarily want to build communication bridges to the mainstream. They may be more concerned about creating a safe space for themselves.
Contact:
nathalie@onroadmedia.org.uk
Follow me at www.twitter.com/natmc
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