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The social networking company Ning is one of the hottest companies of Web 2.0. They just raised $60 million (net) at a pre-money valuation of $500 million, and the company’s CEO and co-founder, Gina Bianchini, is featured on the cover of this month’s Fast Company, along with the feature story Ning’s Infinite Ambition. The gist of the story is how this social network of social networks uniquely leverages a “viral expansion loop”.
“Viral loops have emerged as perhaps the most significant business accelerant to hit Silicon Valley since the search engine. They power many of the icons of Web 2.0, including Google, PayPal, YouTube, eBay, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Flickr. But don’t confuse a viral loop with viral advertising or videos such as Saturday Night Live’s “Lazy Sunday” or the Mentos-Diet Coke Bellagio fountain. Viral advertising can’t be replicated; by definition, a viral loop must be.”
For our purposes, it is precisely this type of viral expansion that sustainable living and renewable energy demand in order to scale quickly enough to address these and other related green issues. If we can get people to live green at the same rate they are joining and starting social networks, all will be OK. In the meantime, Ning can be a valuable tool.
The Ning platform enables any individual or company to start, design, and build their own social network with an exclusive domain that looks like this: www.yournetwork.ning.com. You can integrate features such as blogs, photo & video sharing, groups, news feeds, widgets, etc. In other words, most of those you’ve come to expect from Facebook or MySpace. Ning displays relevant Google text ads in the right column, and you can upgrade to a premium service that enables you to sell your own ads and increase bandwidth. Just as free services like Wordpress and Blogger made launching a blog as easy as signing up for an email account, Ning has done the same for social networking. Incidentally, Ning means “peace” in Chinese…which is nice.
If you’re seeking to follow, join, or contribute to the green movement through social media, Ning is a very DIY way to go about it. Many companies use it as a way to network their customers or clients without building it into their corporate website or hosting it on their servers. Anyone can do it. It’s just a matter of getting people to join and participate.
A Ning search for “green” returns 160 individual networks. We found 20 that were relevant to MG and joined them. We also started our first MG network. Here they are (in order of search results):
The Green Room: All Things Green
About: Learn, share, and grow a better world by living the green life.
Members: 15
Go Green!: Becoming environmentally aware is easy
About: How do you live a green life? Got tips? Know a great website? Share them here.
Members: 19
Green Living: Together we can paint the world Green!
About: A social network for mums, who are green, live green, and those who are trying to be green and eco-friendly.
Members: 32
Green Place: ideas * chat * tips * thoughts * projects
About: Join up and meet other green enviro pple…living, building, planting, thinking, creating, imagining, exploring. Pull up a chair, cushion or log…grab a drink, sit back and enjoy our laid back place. Share stuff, find out about more things… Meet other green and traveling folk from around the globe.
Members: 17
Green Salad: Meet Green People from Around the World
About: A green lifestyle network, meet cool people from all over the world and discuss your local matters, tips and enviroment stuff.
Members: 42
Green Radio
About: The first green radio station in America.
Members: 289
Green Technology: Become a member and share ideas on green technology and renewable energy
About: Green technology is a social network for sharing ideas about renewable power and green technologies. Open to technology professionals and anyone interested in saving money (and making money) by going green.
Members: 19
Art of Living Green Team: A sustainable world starts with us
About: A sustainable world starts with us. The Art of Living Green Team can begin by greening our own Foundation, raising awareness and raising its members, courses, operations and service projects to a greener level!
Members: 561
Green Notes: Essential Environmental Information
About: A simple effort to make easy environmental changes in our life.
Members: 27
G Living: Modern Green Living
About: G Living is the next generation lifestyle simply called “G”. The darker, cooler side of green, featuring smarter design, style, nature, technology, food, music and knowledge. Visit GLIVING.COM for the latest in Modern Green Living.
Members: 216
Alternative Energy.com:
About: Dedicated to advancing Alternative Energy because it is good for: Economy, Security, Environment. Read news and tips on solar energy, wind power, geothermal, biofuel, biodiesel, hydrogen and every form of alternative energy. Upload your videos and photos. Share your expertise. Meet friends to help with your projects. Green collar jobs and energy saving products.
Members: 982
The Whole Nation: Healing the nations through live giving products and services
The Whole Nation is a community of individuals and companies who are passionate about the life giving products and services that promote organic, fair-trade, green, sustainable, local, and socially conscious business practices. www.thewholenation.com
Members: 17
Sustainable Santa Monica: Creating a Gree, Clean and Healthy Community
About: Connecting people in Santa Monica and growing sustainability. Please share resources, needs and ideas so that we can find strength in numbers and create lasting change.
Members: 40
One in a Million: A million women using their purse power to help save the world
About: One of the fastest, most effective ways to protect the environment is to shift money you already spend to eco-friendly goods and services. If a million women shift $1000 to eco-friendly goods, we’ll have a BILLION DOLLAR IMPACT!
Members: 12
Eco-mmunity to End Fossil Fuel
About: The Eco-mmunity is the advocacy and community-momentum driver of our EndFossilFuel.com endeavor. The goal of EndFossilFuel.com is to offer people a way to directly contribute to developing new sustainable energy resources that will help bring our relationship with our planet into a healthier balance.
Members: 142
We Are Awake: Thinking globally, acting locally
About: A gathering place for everyone interested in sustainable living where we learn from each other, motivate each other, and work toward a common goal of a better world.
Members: 43
EarthActive: People and Companies Helping Save the Earth!
About: Where people inter-mingle with companies and other people, all with the objective of promoting companies, programs and people who are dedicated to stopping pollution, Nuclear waste, rights abuse,and restoring Earth to natural grand beauty.
Members: 35
OurWorld: Improve the World With Your Buying Power
About: Interested in socially responsible investment and consumption? Join this community to share ideas on using your investment and purchasing decisions to benefit humanity and the environment.
Members: 15
Go-Eco!: Today, For Tomorrow
About: Go-Eco is a 501(c)(4) corporation dedicated to reducing harmful carbon-based pollutants released into local communities.
Members: 32
Green4Green: The Who’s Who in the Environmental Field
About: Green4Green is a meeting place for anyone and everyone who cares about the environment.
Members: 44
Max Gladwell: The Nexus of Social Media and Green Living
About: Max Gladwell covers the trends of social media and green living in ways that are relevant to how you live.
Members: 1
5 responses so far ↓
1 Meryn Stol // Apr 19, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Thanks for researching this. I will check them out.
2 i can t live if living is without you | Lasts information // Apr 20, 2008 at 1:02 am
[…] The Green Ning of Web 2.0For our purposes, it is precisely this type of viral expansion that sustainable living and renewable energy demand in order to scale quickly enough to address these and other related green issues. If we can get people to live green at …Max Gladwell - http://www.maxgladwell.com […]
3 Girls Gone Green? | Max Gladwell // May 13, 2008 at 8:40 pm
[…] a new group created within the Alt-Energy social network, which is built on the Ning platform. To encourage participation, members are challenged to “Impress Jen” with the […]
4 Keith // Jun 12, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Dont forget us we got 25 so far and growing…
5 Mark S. Meritt // Jun 13, 2008 at 11:56 am
Golly, how funny. I just posted this comment:
http://www.maxgladwell.com/2008/05/facebook-star-wars-and-greek-tragedy/#comment-308
…only to see this piece about Ning mentioned in the sidebar. That Fast Company article had a great impact on me, and Ning and viral expansion loops have everything to do with the project that I mentioned over in that other comment.
Just read the About pages here, and this site seems somewhat along the lines of http://potluck.com — my own poorly maintained and too vaguely defined site, but at some point I hope to remedy those conditions.
In the meantime, I thought I’d at least reach out here again and note that I have great hope for just the sorts of things you’re talking about here with expansion loops for positive change. Given the things Rob Reed is working on and his connections to the entertainment industry, who knows….
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