The Web is constantly evolving and the phenomenon of social networks that started in the United States with MySpace, Youtube and Facebook is proof of this. Many projects such as Twitter, Microsoft Live, Google Buzz were born later, others, however, went into decline or did not even start.
But what is a social network really?
By social network we mean an online application (site) that is based on the interaction of a network of users, linked together by a social affinity: friendship, kinship, hobbies, work, etc.
A social network allows its users to establish qualitative links with others and define boundaries, just like in real life. This type of tool provides users with a series of communication tools useful for sharing their social activities with others: posts, links, messages, chats, photos, music, etc.
Another feature of social networks is that of being able to connect and connect with other sharing platforms. Nowadays, there are many sites that have the classic Comment or Like button, typical of Facebook. The social network has now become a modality, a new way of conceiving the web.
Creating a social network is very complex, but there are several possibilities of being able to do it without too much effort by installing some Plugin on some famous CMS (Joomla !, WordPress, etc.) that implement the typical features of platforms such as Facebook, or ready-made scripts, open source, which we can prepackage on our PC and upload to a Web space that has the characteristics to host this type of resource.
Another even easier way to create a social network is to use the platform Ning, just like when we create a CMS blog, where we get a site that will have an address like http://Ilnomedelsocialnetwork.ning.com, or we can buy a domain and redirect it to that of the Ning platform.
The creation procedure is very simple, you need to connect to the main page of Ning and type the address and name of the network you want to create. A wizard will guide us in creating a personal account, which we will use to access the site and the administration panel.
Once the account has been created, the wizard will guide us in the configuration of the site to choose the layout and display settings of the site. By accessing our social network we can act as administrators with the ability to change the settings and the use and privacy policies of all members, to modify and integrate the contents of the network home page, to create events, new content, etc.
The result is incredible, in a few minutes we get a network capable of implementing the most complex features of platforms like Facebook. With a minimum of Web design skills, we can modify the layout settings at will, also acting on the Css and Html code. The level of customization of the graphics is very high.
At the end of the work we can too redirect a domain name to the Ning space. The use of this platform can certainly please freelancers, traders, artisans and small businesses.
However, there are three types of Ning subscriptions, all practically testable with a test session:
Base: You can create a social network with 1.000 members, 2 administrators and email support. Cost € 22 per month.
For: it is possible to create a social network with 10.000 members, 5 administrators and assistance via email and telephone. Cost 45 € per month.
Incredibly : you can create a social network with 100.000 members, 10 administrators and priority assistance. Cost € 82 per month.
Payments can be made by credit card or PayPal.
