Apr 16 2010
No More Free Ning?
After Laying Off 40% of It’s Workforce Ning Says Things Will Be Different
Yesterday after getting an email from my husband, who had gotten an inquiry from one of his colleagues about the ‘changes’ at Ning, I didn’t pay much attention. Said colleague was asking about alternatives to Ning because they were going to be charging soon, my assumption was that this was likely the result of going over bandwidth or something of that nature.
I was surprised later when I got the link to the creators community where the announcement was clear as day… no more free communities. More news to be released over the next two weeks, free community creators will have the opportunity to upgrade to an undisclosed payment plan or will have to begin their transition elsewhere.
Many of the replies to the thread where the announcement was made are full of anger, many creators have spent hundreds of hours creating their environments, others are bummed but acknowledge that it probably makes sense as a business decision. There are even some who have created many communities, over 20 in some cases, and their frustration about how quickly even a small amount would add up is understandable.
Most of the comments come to the same conclusion though, they are asking the question, “How much will it be.”, and this has not yet been disclosed.
As a Ning Community Creator I am hoping it isn’t too much, I have about 4 different communities the largest of which has an international membership spanning 6 countries bringing moms who have Multiple Sclerosis together. My hope is that the small premium fees I pay will be enough to keep it going, but I’m doing my research just in case.
Sources:
http://creators.ning.com/forum/topics/ning-update?xg_source=msg_com_forum&id=4244211%3ATopic%3A151365&page=1#comments
http://www.fastcompany.com/1618615/5-things-ning-got-right