Ning- Stop stealing my members or allow me to export my ENTIRE site

within the first 48 hours of the change, I got so inundated with "come join me" emails I deleted all but my two biggest networks out of frustration and protest.

I would feel much better about this if they didn't keep telling us it's in our best interest. Honesty scores points with me, and I don't need to be patronized by someone who can take my data in spite of my clear requests. I pay all the premium services, but don't consider myself a valued customer. the Venture Capitalists are the ones who are valued.

I think you guys are just a little out of the loop.

Ning announced a few weeks ago that they will no longer send notices to members who are a part of a premium service.

Also, you can export all your user data under Manage Members.

Tom, are you trolling, or being naive?

Exporting my user data doesn't exactly export all my site content, does it? What do you think would happen to all of my search engine traffic if I suddenly left Ning without my user's content? What do you think my user's reaction would be if I suddenly deleted all of their content?

Don't you realise that spammers are spidering or manually friending all of those public member profiles on Ning, just to get people to join their sites? The entire site can be navigated through people's public friends lists. My direct competitor's member counts have shot up in the last few weeks, and I'll give you one guess where those members have all come from.

Not emailing whitelabel members is hardly an answer to the problem in any case. They still have public profiles on display, which they don't even know about. As well as giving my members away, Ning have opened a massive can of worms regarding security and privacy.

Not everyone wants their profile linking together publicly showing all the different sites they are on. What about people who roleplay on one Ning site and have a serious identity on another? What about battered women? What about people who are gay but not out to their family and friends? I even feel sorry for all of those porn guys who still have pictures of their genitalia showing up in the Ning people search. They didn't know they were joining Ning, and they could well have joined more than one Ning site using the same email address, with no idea that when someone searched for their name or email, up would pop a picture of their penis. How humiliating for them. Ning's unilateral decision to default all profiles to public is seriously NOT COOL. I'm surprised no one has started a class action against them.

We are not something to have a blood sucking on us.

Pulling the "request source code" option after we all started our networks was a dick move. They didn't even grandfather us in.

this explains it

http://www.chartingstocks.net/2009/03...

the "request source code" was probably the main reason i started building my network with ning.. and then they took it away without warning.

I could not agree more. If the Creator crowd accomplishes ONE thing in their campaign to Ning, it's regaining control of the source code. Ning knows it is in their best interest to lock networks into their community, but that is in direct opposition of the Social Contract that tomorrow;s web companies will subscribe to.

count me in! stop stealing my members please. they dont even know what/who ning is..much less want their info on your site

wow one disscussion on here with out the ning master telling people to leave! I say again, wow!

YOUR SILENCE IS DEFA-NING

> much less want their info on your site

yes. that's the very reason why I started to inform my members -- including a 'how to' in case they want to change the informations given unwillingly on their ning profiles.

transparency is something you should be able to look through from both sides.

HELLO NING?? EARTH TO NING? ANY RESPONSES?

Has anyone successfully been able to export/backup their Ning social network's content?

I had my site private but here is what NING does if it's private. If someone responds to a members post they get an email notification but when they go to my site they get a msg that says sign up with NING. This is what NING told me when I complained:

Thanks for your message. From a recent update release the Sign Up page now displays for social networks that are private. This change is to help drive membership on your social network. For existing members, they can click on the the link "sign in" to sign in.

How will this drive traffic to me? What crap

It all feels so...dishonorable.
And do they know that ning master is advocating people with problems to stop whining and just leave ning ?

I totally agree about the come join my crap;. I hate it.. complety .. thats why i turned off on all sites that i belong to except my own the email option.. so no one can send me that mess.. that im not going to join

so what your saying is
ning finds you amusing
your their hero and you speak for them
if ning were able speak for themselves
they would say that their costumers annoying
and want them to go away
there are 25 networks on ning with problems
and ning hopes that they just leave
your laughing and your ass is gone
I was asleep but now i smell coffee
90 percent of nc's dont whine.
after doing the math with the variables given
I now know there are exactly 250 networks on ning
BabyD
Shiny Ambassador of your Mom

Ning Master, if Ning does not care whether they lose 25 headache creating networks, surely the best thing they can do for their headache is to give us an export mechanism?

That would solve *my* Ning-created headache, then I wouldn't have to whine any more. Problem solved.

Ning repeatedly use the phrase 'your content' and 'your social network' throughout help articles and more. Now, last I checked, the word 'your' is the possessive form of 'you' which means you possess it, own it, call it what you like but yes they clearly do indicate they consider we own the content.

If they don't then they should say 'our content' - meaning themselves, or 'your members content' maybe.

Maybe before you accuse Ning of something, you should first make sure they even said you had that ability.

They have to abide by their T.O.S. If they said you own your content and you can export it, then they have to provide this to you. Their T.O.S. is a binding contract between you and Ning.

I will ask this question again!

Did you read anywhere in Ning T.O.S. that said you owned your content and that they would provide a way for you to export it????

You know as well as I do that Ning sold this concept on us having control over 'our' network and its content. Copyright in the content is actually owned by the members, not us anyway. We just get to use that content in the context of the network.

This whole bitch is actually about the control of the network and its content. The technicality of who owns the content is really irrelevant. It is the ability to manage and control the network that matters, and the option to move to another platform if wished.

Ning infers we have that control but in fact we don't. Now I do understand that all platforms will change and not all functionality will exist from the start, but being able to move from the platform is a fairly basic function and should be provided.

Do they have a responsibility to do this? Put simply, no. It's a business and they have no responsibilities other than those required by the law, and this is not one.

Have they ever said they would do it, yes. It was mentioned in a post that we would have a better way to backup and move our data. It has not eventuated. Will it? Probably, but when could be years away.

We just have to lump it - like tax, rising prices, and all the other stuff as consumers we have no or little control over. After all, isn't making a buck what life is meant to be about?

Oh BTW, I think this from the TOS answers you question. Have you ever read the TOS?
__________________________
2. Benefits of Creating Your Own Social Network

The Ning Platform is designed to give Network Creators and Network Members the freedom to create and control their own Social Networks. Creating Social Networks on the Ning Platform is free. A Social Network initially comes with 10GB of storage and 100GB of bandwidth; although such storage and bandwidth limits may be changed from time to time. Subject to this Agreement, as a Network Creator, you control your Social Network and own all of Your Code and Your Content. Ning does not claim any ownership rights in Your Code or any of Your Content. There are two types of data provided by or collected from Network Members – Network Member Data and Ning Member Data. Network Creators and their designated administrators have access to both the Network Member Data uploaded or collected on their Social Network(s) and the Ning Member Data.
__________________________

I think this clearly says we do own the data.

"Subject to this Agreement, as a Network Creator, you control your Social Network and own all of Your Code and Your Content. Ning does not claim any ownership rights in Your Code or any of Your Content."

And I think this says we have access to our data, which in fact we do not.

"Network Creators and their designated administrators have access to both the Network Member Data uploaded or collected on their Social Network(s) and the Ning Member Data."

I have no access to any of the data other than reading it on the network, and I certainly have very little access to the member data.

Ning are most definitely in breach of their TOS.

Then do something about it. Stop whining. If you have a valid case and you think Ning is in breach of their T.O.S., hire an attorney and take them to court. If you are just here to whine, guess I will have to keep reading about it.

Personally I think you got nothing. There is nothing in their T.O.S. that says they will provide you a way to export this content and the word "access" could mean a million things.

I see access as you having the ability to see how many members you have and the content they have added to your site.

I see access to Ning member data as the ability to search and find other Ning networks or become a member on other Ning networks. This would clearly be access to their member data.

What you think? Spencer?

The term 'access' is fairly clear, though I do agree that the interpretation of that can be construed as meaning almost anything you like. But what do you think most people, not you, would interpret it as meaning?

That section is titled 'Benefits of Creating Your Own Social Network' not benefits for members. Your interpretation of 'access' is no more than all members have. So where are the benefits to Network Creators?

As far as taking them to court, yeah sure, I have millions lying around I can spend on that. And their lawyers can 'interpret' the word 'access' their way as well. You know that is not a real option for the average person other than a class action maybe. And I don't think it would win anyway.

My opinion is they are in breach, but that is just my opinion, just as your is they are not. I just think it is sad that Ning has such a reputation now. I don't want to move my network, but I do think that Ning could mend a few bad feelings quite easily of they wanted to. Though there would always be someone who is unhappy with something, so they have probably taken a calculated gamble on this.

BTW, I am not whining, I am discussing, isn't that what you are doing? And I think the whole idea of Ning using this platform was to provide a free unbiased platform for such discussion and comments.

Ning are free to run their company any way they like, your are free to defend them and I am free to criticize. Isn't this a wonderful platform?

The term 'whining' is really not called for.

Successful businesses are not built on fine print! They are built on customer loyalty and long lasting relationships.

The TOS means nothing if all of Ning's marketing and advertising leads Network Creators to believe one thing, but Ning is actually delivering something different. There are plenty of videos and articles out there that contradict their latest actions/decisions.

Maybe for a hobbyist this isn't so critical, but what about those Network Creators running a business who have invested countless hours and thousands of dollars in advertising to grow their networks? They did this based on the promise of freedom and control. Ning should do everything in its power to ensure that their investments are protected. Currently they are turning a blind eye to our needs and that is detrimental to our online businesses!

I agree with you Alex...

Maybe NING should create different models, not everything PACKED together but different models for different purposes.

For example:

- Create a model for businesses that want a social network totally independant from the NING network, a stand-alone system wich is not connected in ANY way to all the other social networks on NING! If i were a company i would be happy to pay for such a thing. And IF i have to pay, then i want TOTAL freedom over my social network and do with it what i like without having to feel NINGS 'hot breath in my neck' all the time!

- A Model for hobbyists. NC's who like to create a social network around a hobby should have the model we have NOW on NING. The people who have a FREE network would have to accept all the NING brandings, google ads, cross-network inviting / spamming etc, because they pay NOTHING. When they upgrade to a PREMIUM account they should be free from all of the above mentioned.

- A Model for ADULT networks. Since adult networks use more bandwidth and discpace because of its popularity, it's logical if we would have to pay a fee for using bandwidth and extra storage.This should be payed by the networks members through member-billing. If an adult system would come in the future, there should be a built-in member billing system, where users pay for blocks of storage and usage of bandwidth and when they exeed this, they will have to pay a small fee for extra usage to the NC's via PAYPAL or something. NING should keep in mind that there actually ARE people who don't have a creditcard and are not ABLE to get one due to debts or other reasons, therefor PAYPAL would be a great system for payment internationally. In Holland, where i live, credit cards are not popular and not many people have them, exept companies or rich people!

- DISCSPACE per member: I think it would be great if there was something like 'discspace-per-member'. Each member would have a standard discspace for uploading music or photo's. The networksadministrator should have to set how much discspace they allow per member and when they exeed their storage limit they can buy extra blocks of discspace AND bandwidth for videos, pictures and music.

Personally i think the above model would work much better and have more people satisfied then with the policy NING has now!

Cheers,
Zohra

Come on guys and girls. Do you really think its fair to ning. They let you create network for free with good feature and then you want to leave with few 100 or 1000 members and make money. They want something out of this too.
I dont have prem and i dont like when my network is down and i work hard to get all members i have but im happy coz its the easiest way to make network and free (for me)

Here is my take and this is truly how I feel.

Am I frustrated over some changes that Ning has made in the past? Yes!

Do I want to thank Spencer from widgetlabs for getting the ball rolling? Hell no!

For those of us that have been here for awhile, we all know the changes started directly in relations to Spencer and his company screwing everything up for everybody else. The proof is on the web and would only take minutes to find.

I agree with a lot of you and Zohra makes some very good suggestions. I do think there should be fee's for different types of networks. I also think there should be fee's for a more white label type of network as well as fees for source code access.

We all know what we want and some of us know that we could help generate some good revenue if we were working as part of the Ning team.

The reality of it? Every company has a member or members that don't know what they doing or what their customers want. In the end, the responsibility is that of the ones in upper management who are truly in charge.

In the USA we have bad politicians and an economy that is in the toilet. But like you, I continue to survive and make the best of things. I do this on Ning as well.

So instead of complaining and wasting your time like we do when we complain about politicians and taxes and our economy. Lets make the best of it!

If there comes along a better platform than Ning, then I guess we all leave! In the end it's really just business.

Hi JP,

I think you got a point there, after all every new company goes through a learningprocess with falling and getting up again en i DO believe we get a tremendous piece of software here, we wouldnt all be complaigning right here about it, if we didnt like NING i suppose? ;) Because every complaigning person here likes to use NING, only, it's not to THEIR conditions. Therefore we need to have source access again so we can make it as we want. I don't mind paying for certain services and again an open API. All great services have an open API, just like Twitter and Facebook for creating applications and such. The Opensocial system is terrible and slow so we need applications that load directly from our own server or our own little piece on our NING networks.

With every system there is always SOMETHING we are not happy about, that is why i was always giving tongs and tongs of suggestions to ning in the past on Networkcreators, if you can remember this!

NONE of them is granted though wich i find a pitty :(

Personally i think i am nót complaigning, just feel bad about some changes and protesting about it.

I just hope by giving my suggestions NING will get inspired to do certain things in an even better and more professional way.

If i was NING i would feel terrible about all those people complaigning here and i'd think by myself:'Just shut the f... up and go to hell' if people would criticise a system i give away for free, for people to have fun etc etc. and then they are all complaigning?

However, if members and networkcreators give GREAT suggestions to make the system, and the policy BETTER then why not try to listen to them?

Ofcourse we don't know what is 'under the hood' with ning and what their plans for the future are, maybe theyare baking some great cookies in the oven as we speak?

My intention is not to put NING in a bad position, we always had GREAT and accurate service on Networkcreators but NOW NING has grown 10 times bigger then when we as NING-pioneers started our networks here.

This means MORE email MORE bugs, MORE whining people MORE this and MORE that, i think these things might be a 'bit hard to handle' for NING aswell sometimes.

I hope NING will learn from all this and starts to have open conversations again with its members and networkcreators so they will not loose the personal touch that made NING so attractive in the past. NING, Please don't change into a robot!!

Cheers,
Zohra

I am with you. I also want a backup of my entire site.

When Ning had the Network Creators social network, they were very involved and would actually listen and respond to suggestions. This was one of the things I loved most about Ning. They were a very dynamic company with a personal touch. Although they would not implement every feature suggestion, they would usually at least find some type of middle ground to make the platform even better for all of us.

It seems like after they closed Network Creators, they have taken more of "It's Ning's way or the highway!" approach.

I'm really hoping they reconsider and start paying more attention to this forum. If you just browse through the topics with most replies, you'll notice that Ning has not bothered to respond or address our concerns. That is not good business practice.

Their silence in here makes me think they are just not responding because they know we just won't like what they have to say about their future plans... I think there is a lot more coming on Ning.com and the reality is that this is counter productive to the social networks we work so hard to build. There are already some features on there (status updates, mutual friends, etc) that our networks don't even have... That clearly shows a shift in focus!

I think it is all Spencer's fault!

Once again @Dokun someone who is ignorant to what is really going on behind closed doors.

Ning has focused on open social apps. It is their platform. Sitesuites is still here and they will be making OS apps to my understanding.

If they don't like what Ning has done, they are intelligent enough to move to other platforms (which they have).

They (Sitesuites) are survivors and adapt. They don't complain, they act and make things happen and move on.

This is true with myself, other developers and network creators. Most of us do not come in here and flame Ning. Do we? We work on ways to comply with what Ning thinks is in Nings best interest as far as growth and longevity.

I will say it again. If another platform comes along that offers what most Network creators want that Ning does not offer, then they will all move to that platform.

If you had found something better than Ning, you would not be in here flaming Ning. You would be building your network.

"Cheers"
JP

Yea.....pffffffffft I doubt you have found something better.

It is only common sense that none of us knows whats going on behind closed doors. Did not say I did!

Did not know you had such a direct line of communication with SS and that the truth is they don't want to get kicked off of Ning. Do they now know you have made that statement on their behalf. It insinuates that they are tired of Ning but won't say it to their face, only behind their back to you.

Naahhh I don't get that from them. I don't think they would confide in you how they felt. Especially if it could get them kicked off of Ning.

Who are you anyways? Why are you here again?

What have you found that's better? I am sure it's not all that great or you would have plastered it all over this discussion.............LMAO!

Are you so dumb or is it just looking like that?

Where am I telling you that SS has told me anything you are saying? I'm just giving my opinion!!!!!!! And NOT read NOT! SS or any body else his/her opinion!! Just my own!!! I assume just like you do and anybody else here.

Who am I??? Is that any of your biznis? But if you wanna know i'm a Ning user/costumer for 2years now... Why am I here again?? Cant you read? I'M A NING COSTUMER. ( and a script4ning costumer and now user) Thats more reason enough to be here.

Who are you..? Oh i did see it already, someone that needs Ning to sell his/her products. ppffffffff!!

If you read the Getsatisfaction rules then you would have known thats its NOT allowed to promote any other platform here on Ning's part of GS! They remove those messages, and can (will) remove any account that violate their rules multiple times after they have been warned warned.

@WhatsWrongWith.Ning.com

The only way I can answer your question is from my own experience. I am and alwyas have been completely aware of Nings T.O.S. and I continue to build networks of my own on Ning.

I know I cannot export alot of my content and still choose Ning to build some websites. If at any time I want a site where I can export my content, I build it on my own server and I am covered.

What I would like to know is, why are you worried about your content. What has happened to make you stop moving forward with your site on Ning? (if you have stopped) Why are you not using your energy to grow your site more and more everyday.

I am curious and would love to hear your answer. I mean no disrespect in this reply. I am just curious and trying to understand how it is on your end of things.

JP

" On Ning, you have full access to your member data. We’ll be making some announcements on this front in the next week, but your member data is completely accessible via Ning’s exhaustive APIs. You can’t export your Facebook Group and member data the way you can export and control all of the data and content on your social network on Ning.

A group on Facebook is fantastic if you are only focused on distribution and you are willing to give up freedom and control to get it. It’s theirs. Ning offers the latest social networking features, all infinitely customizable to meet your unique needs. It’s yours.

In practice, though, you don’t have to choose between your own social network on Ning and using Facebook. You can have both by simply activating the Facebook Promotion option on your social network on Ning. With this option, you can spread the word about your social network within Facebook while still linking back to a full fledged social network that is uniquely yours.

This is as much a philosophical difference as is it a difference of features. On Ning, your social network is yours. Your choice of features. Your content. Your decisions. We want you to create the exact right social network for you. It’s not about us. It’s about you.

Update: Just to clarify, Facebook Groups are the only thing that you as a member can create on Facebook, which is why this analysis is against Facebook Groups, not networks on Facebook. Networks on Facebook are defined and controlled exclusively by Facebook. "

Gina Bianchini Posted by Gina Bianchini, written on September 26, 2007 – 11:55 pm.

http://blog.ning.com/2007/09/how_is_a...

" Andreessen argues that Ning isn’t pro-porn, but pro-feedom, going on to say that “we think a better approach is to let people fundamentally do what they want, as long as it isn’t illegal and doesn’t otherwise violate our terms of service.”

Not surprisingly the anti-porn zealots are up in arms, claiming that it’s a shallow argument being used to protect a porn ring. The idea that Ning relies on porn came via statistics from Quantcast that suggest that Ning’s biggest sites are porn related.

...

On the freedom of speech side the argument has validity, after all if as Andreessen says there is nothing illegal in what some people are using Ning for, why should Ning move to block this unless it’s a call based on morality alone. To quote Andreessen:

To prevent porn, you have to take an activist stand against freedom of expression — you have to get in there and judge content, judge people, judge intent, and take action based on your judgments. I would never criticize a company for doing so, but I don’t want to do that, and we as a company don’t want to do that.

We think a better approach is to let people fundamentally do what they want, as long as it isn’t illegal and doesn’t otherwise violate our terms of service.

Call it being agnostic.

And we extend this agnostic attitude to our entire service — porn, yes, but also other potentially controversial activities, ranging from political activism and protest organizing, to circumvention of censorship regimes, through to extreme cases like smuggled videos of human rights abuses in totalitarian societies.

Read more here."

Posted on Tuesday, 08 January 2008 at 09:15 PM

http://www.freedomtodiffer.com/freedo...

"What we have now is infinitely more ‘make-it-yoursable’ than anything else in the marketplace, yet we still want to go further, and give network creators (and their users) even more choice, more freedom.

Our goal is to allow them to take the credit for their amazing creations, not us. If you want to see how committed we are to that principle, then see how easy we make it for you to remove our logo from the Ningbar. I’m pretty sure no other service would let you do that, and if they did, it would certainly be at a premium."
21 March 2007

http://paulrobertlloyd.com/2007/03/fi...

Zhora ... I so agree with your request that Ning would offer various network models. I would pay a premium service fee to truly white label my networks. I recently set up my 4th private label network with full premium services (within the past 3 months) ... I've had at least two members start their own related networks plus several spammers join. I know that will always happen.

I truly do not understand why they can't offer that as alternative for members who are willing to pay for it. I suspect many will still opt for the free networks, but still, to offer this as a premium option at least would provide a service to others who truly need something different.

"So you're focusing on the recurring subscription-based revenues for technology add-ons, as opposed to the traditional media model of direct ad sales.

We actually think there are a lot more interesting and better ways [than ad sales] to make money by taking advantage of the Ning platform today.

How do you get at the concept of "graphing" the world's passions?

We have over a million self-contributed [meta-] tags related to the one million social networks that are on this platform. So we know, for example, that networks across Ning span 10,000-20,000 unique interests and more."

"So in effect you're building a massive media-planning tool that can be used to categorize people across what initially look like disparate interest areas?

From a pure media planning tool perspective, we do not have something in place, but certainly again, when you have a company that is mapping the world's interests and passions, there's a lot of very rich, interesting data."
June 10, 2009
http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/c...

"Nings terms (which are terms that Indiepublic follows) allow you to explicitly state your own conditions for copyright. In short, if you want everything locked down, you can do that. If you want to use a Creative Commons license, you can do that as well.

What you need to do if you want to protect your work:

This is simple, folks. Go (right now) to your profile ("My Page"), and find that text box in the center at the top. It's the same one where you've put your Etsy Mini or Slide.

Go to that box, and at the very bottom (or top), put this simple line:

All contributed content © {your name or company here}"

http://www.indiepublic.com/forum/topi...

" Advertisers are image-conscious and wary of being placed next to questionable content, and on social networking sites like Ning, ad placement is out of your control. Is that an intractable problem? That's an issue across the Web. I don't think social networks are necessarily more of an issue in that respect. Certainly, you give people the ability to create perhaps a little bit more. But here's [how] I would encourage advertisers to look at it: It's like sponsoring an event, it's just online. When Budweiser or Nokia or the other big brands are sponsoring an outdoor concert series, for example, there is stuff happening at that concert that they may or may not want associated with their brand. But they still do it.

When you look at the overall trends and dynamics of advertising, you've got to go where the people are, and the people today love their social networks."
Gina Bianchini
November 10, 2008 12:00 PM ET
http://www.computerworld.com/action/a...

The Ning Master, in response to your question?

The WhatsWrongWith.ning.com site is just a past time. I started it so anyone who would like to constructively submit things that they believe are wrong, technically, can do so.

As far as moving ahead with my network, I have 3 other networks that are doing just that - 700+ members, 11,000+ photos on one, another not as good, another that is more local and much smaller.

I am worried about my data should Ning go belly up or are they backing it up reliably. I am frustrated in that I can't do certain things on the site - mainly I would like to have more data on member activity which I can't get. I have to pay a third party to gain some of the functions I require and I am concerned about their continuing availability, both from Nings actions and their own.

So I suppose I have a bit of trouble feeling confident in expending time and money on something which I feel I don't have sufficient control over. I find it difficult to just 'have faith' in big business.

Yes, I could have started the networks by buying a script etc but again funds and technical ability are big issues. Ning appeared a great option, and still is in a way because I believe they will eventually add functionality, it is just 'when'. And continuing to say things are 'coming', continuing to make surprising decisions suddenly that really do impact on our networks does not instill confidence.

I don't hate Ning, I am just disappointed and concerned.

yeah they are getting much members by stealing the people that i paid to advertise
im p off their other places that you can make an social network any way and their not going to change until they have no more members

Stop stealing my members, converting my network into sub group for yours, and specially stop other of your members lurking and making "common friends on my network"

If I'm being spammed by sites on the Ning network, my members are as well. Ning is allowing this because they can claim that the overall network is growing, but it will reach a point where people tune these sites out (including messages from legitimate hosts) ultimately pushing the network into irrelevancy.

I have the same problem. And It's a great problem when I go to holiday. But when we make a networks, we share our discussions with our friends too and it's a big problem to make a right choice when you choice your friend in your list. I think, you must write to the administrator of the site who send you spams and say to him, you don't want his spams. If he's correct, he will not share after his spam. The other, delete him of your friend.
I think it's the best solutions.

I have the same need to export the whole NING site and now I'm really upset with them as they stopped all related API, WEBDAV, FTP and any information on how to get back my data.

I'm not a lawyer but I think we are in the position to start some legal action.
We can keep in touch between us using some facebook group. Is there any tech savvy that can prepare it ?

If we are some people maybe we can afford to have some lawyer to help us.

I am working on a gathering information to send to an attorney that handles class action lawsuits. If Ning is wrong, they will make it right and milk ning for all they can. i will keep you updated.

But that flies members to whom.
Each member has the right to know that there are other raiseaux that may be of interest? Perhaps we need to question and make its network more attractive if it wants to keep its members. They are the creators behind a network. Ning is a great platform to learn about several points of view. Each member is large enough to determine if a subject is going to agree or not.
I am creative network, which does not prevent me for having made wonderful discoveries with spam and I am not stolen?
We are not in a contest of who has more members?

I think that the right team of lawyers could totally bring a class action suit .I also think that if thats what you have decided to do debating it here can only work against you.

When will the web be more free?

More free than what?

I did not have time to read all these posts and I am a little confused. I am kind of new to all this posturing but here is my question:

I am a Network Creator of my own Social network called waycorps.ning.com which I pay for. I do not wish to be a part of any other social networking sites including Facebook or My Space.

Yet somehow I am signed up for a site called NING.com. I do not recall joining that social network. I looks like Facebook.

I would like to leave NING.com. But when I tried to leave the site it said I would be deactivated from my own site which I pay for called waycorps.ning.com, a Christian site I started.

Can you please remove me from NING.com? I am the Creator and moderator of my site. If I am removed then how will members log on and how will I manage my site?

Also this site Ning.com) kind of motivated me to remove myself from memberships to other NING sites that I had joined because I don't want to have myself all over the place on NING. NING.com showed all the other networks I had joined and all my friends! There were four sites I saw on NING.com that I have no remved myself myself from. Isn't this a little bit counter productive?

Also when I went to NING.Com it said "welcome back John Richeson". Yet I am certain I did not log in. But I had logged in on my other network I created. This is spooky. I do not want any part of it because I do not understand it. Can someone help? You can email me or post here.

John Richeson
Tampa, FL
jrich7@verizon.net

My members do not want to be on Ning.com. They are very privacy conscious most of them. They will freak out. Some will probably leave my site I started if they see that. Are you kidding?

I just read a second times what's happend with this question. What about do we speak? About confidential ID. But we know all sites make same things. I'm not a defender of Ning, but I always give my pseudo and confidential mail on all sites on the Web. Some sites is really difficult to leave. Others no.
I think, if we suscribe to a website, we must be careful with what we give. A lot of medias speak about it and make prevention. And i think we don't fall down in paranoïa. The computer has informations, not the webmasters.
I answer like this because my english is bad, but the translation of google isn't better.
And do we know all the name of our members?

Hi everyone,

I just came on to GS to research a question I have about banners and find this thread about this issue that I was not aware of. So, the problem is that ning is basically creating their own (facebook like) social network and using our members to populate it? Do I understand this right?

If so, how are they going about it? I read somewhere above where some sites are being joined by spammers who invite your members to their own ning social networks? Is this the issue, or is ning actually themselves adding all my members to the ning social network without my consent?

On my site, if you don't fit a certain category (transplant recipient, caretaker, on waiting list, or work in the field), you can't join. Is this beneficial given that I don't allow just anyone to join?

Please shed some light on this so I can understand what is going on here.

Thank you.

Nelson
transplantcafe.com

Whenever anybody joins your network they also join the Ning network, even though it is not that clear to them. In fact, the Ning TOS actually tell you you are required to tell your members they are in fact members of the Ning network.

Go to Ning.com and you will find their network. Now this is not a network where they have all the features you will provide on yours, but it does have some and what a lot of people are concerned about is that Ning will eventually provide all the same functionality to members on their network, which will really make yours not much more than one of their groups.

What you are actually creating here is NOT really a separate network. I have seen dating sites like this. You create your site and share members. On those you can choose a niche set of members you can start with, effectively giving you thousands of members immediately. Here it is a little different. We create a site, gather our members and give them all to Ning.

If you look at your admin abilities it is much like a group admin. You don't really have a lot of control over things. There is very little in the admin area you can do. It is mainly cosmetic. This is why a lot of what you do as admin is in the front end that users use, just like a group admin.

So even though you will be very picky about members and may approve them based on certain criteria, they all end up on the Ning network. So if your criteria is sensitive and members are sensitive about being on networks, DON"T START HERE.

And yes, SPAM is a huge issue. Any member that befriends another can invite them to a different network. A real simple scam. Go join a heap of networks, befriend everyone you can and then invite them all to your network.

A bigger problem is you have no access to your members data, as in their comments, photos etc, other than to delete them and minor editing. You can't backup your site so you trust Ning will do it, and of course their TOS explicitly state they take no responsibility, and once you build it you CAN'T move it anywhere else.

If you want to start anywhere else the only thing you can get is the list of members and their profile questions. You will lose all their content, forum discussions, photos, videos and so on. Then, of course, only a few will resign so you are back to square one.

Hopefully, you should have the picture. This is not a place to start a network if you want anywhere near the control you would have on your own site, and want ti keep member data confidential.

If you are happy to have someone else make decisions about your network 'for your own good', who you will trust with your members sensitive data, who you will trust with keeping you site alive, and don't mind them contacting you members and interacting with your members then welcome aboard.

I join the idea of Stone Head. If my english is good :-/ .
I hope.
It's true when we suscribe in a social plateform, we give informations. It's with these that the plateforme hasn't cost.
Facebook speak about pay too. A lot of free plateforms with success are victims of this success and must pay workers to continue.
It's for what I ask for what times we have more free pateforms and in what conditions?

Ning is still a very nice option if your site utilizes Ning for specific functions. For instance, you can have your (non-Ning) Job Borad, Classifieds, Videos, Blog, etc. hosted elsewhere and accessible through your Ning network. You must maintain your own domain name (not the Ning name) and preferably have content and groups on other sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. If you build it that way and if you eventually have to jump the Ning ship you will take a smaller hit. The biggest problem are the friendships and group memberships your members have on your Ning network. That is the only true, long lasting hit you would take if you migrate from Ning. Hopefully lawsuit will force Ning's hand to allow exportation of this information. There are several lawsuits in the works which will flush this issue out.

Oui, je trouve qu'il est important d'avoir la possibilité d'avoir notre travail et notre code d'accès avec tous nous avons faites sur Ning.
Nous sommes en Gail avec Ning, et nous utilisons seulement ensemble, mais nous la connaissons.
Ce n'est pas important de spams ou autres nous betwin. Il est facile de le supprimer.
Mais l'important est de conseiller le membre correctely et n'attendez pas que le député est bon sur Ning, quand il voit qu'il ne peut tout simplement partager quelque chose avec d'autres sites. Ning doit s'ouvrir. Il vaut mieux je pense.

Je suis un peu fatigué d'être entraînés dans des boules rouges sur les liens et les invitations. Si les membres se plaignent qu'ils sont sur beaucoup de sites où ils ne participent pas.
Ning est un réseau social et il est nécessaire pour un site change, il envoie des informations à son propre site à des amis qu'il a faites sur Ning.
Il n'est pas difficile de supprimer le spam que nous ne sommes pas comme vous et à donner que les nouvelles d'autres sites.
S'il n'envoie pas d'informations sur comment mettre à jour son site. Les membres peuvent naviguer partout où ils veulent et comme tous les sites Web, il existe une immatriculation, il ya des invitations.
Je pense que nous devrions donner l'occasion aux membres de se retirer complètement d'un groupe si elle ne s'il vous plaît pas. Actuellement, il n'est pas possible. Il faudrait supprimer son site ID qui lui plaît le plus. C'est cette possibilité alors nous devons donner aux membres et non pas supprimer le spam. Sinon, ning à mourir lentement, et je serais la 1ère à aller héberger mon site ailleurs.

What Happens When Ning Advertises To My Members

Here is a perfect example of what many of us are upset about.
I pay to have the Ning name removed from my site. I don't want my members to start competing sites against me, so I pay extra monthly for this.
Recently I had to ban a member for repeatedly posting dirty pics, and filthy language as well as filthy songs, finally after a month of editing his stuff and warning him- I had to ban him.
The very next day he had a Ning free site started-emailing members of my site whose addresses he obtianed before getting banned. The site is all about bashin me and my site with filthy blogs and language cussing me etc..the site is actually a real joke and would be funny.. EXCEPT I have paid Ning from the start to remove the Ning label from my site, still it shows on log in,etc, you guys know all the places it gets snuck in...anyways, here is the site- I have reported it to Ning as I thought the days of sites like this were over.
Still the site is on..have a look at the blogs, etc..
http://rigdawgs.ning.com/profiles/blo...
Still wondering why Ning would allow their name on a site like this and why i have paid all the fees, only to have this guy get his site through Ning promoting to my members...

Some of their videos
http://rigdawgs.ning.com/video/412433...

and some of their pictures
http://rigdawgs.ning.com/photo/pictur...

Anyways, i know Ning will not stop trying to profit off our efforts, even when we pay them not to, but i just wanted to vent about how thier practices effect our sites.
Thanks

Welcome to the ning SCAM. I complained about this plenty of times: ning allowing slimeball members of mine to sabotage all my work by hijacking my hard earned and expensive members. Ning ignored me. Ning burned lots of us this way. Please go post this on ripoffreport.com also.

Hi ning! Your lawsuit is almost ready. THIS IS NO DRILL NING!!!!

If you want to join my legal efforts and recover your losses from the ning scam, email me at radioairwaves@gmail.com ASAP!

^ If you're for serious, that takes balls. I hope it goes well, really!

ning likes when members invite anther to they ning site so they can get more people to wonder how to make one and i hate having to compete against person who don't even have a purpose and won't even pay or no type of css knowledge it's dumb

Trying to migrate/backup/move from Ning. I have 3 networks thats working really good and planing on more - BUT if they are not going to do anything about this problem I'm leaving. Adios. Farewell. Goodbye. Pictures Stories Members Avatars. All of it. Give it to me.

I jumped on the Ning bandwagon back when they were still relatively new. I remember very clearly how Ning stated that all of our network content belongs to us.
Then they changed it to something less appealing; then they totally did away with any idea that you own your content.
Unfortunately before they pulled the bait and switch, I had signed up many networks, my favorite one I am now looking desperately to retrieve the data from so I can go to a platform that isn't run by a shady corporation who clearly has no qualms about outright public deception.