Comments on: Ning “the” Thing

By: Alan Levine aka CogDog

Alan Levine aka CogDog — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:48:49 +0000

Mmmm, Darren, so perhaps Ning has caught the twitter flu. Too bad. I experienced some slowness, double loads on my last Ning fling.

The notion of “scaling” in popular web 2.0 apps is complex; success becomes its own demon.

By: Darren Cambridge

Darren Cambridge — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:20:03 +0000

Unfortunately, it seems that Ning–article or no article–isn’t doing a very good job of scaling to accommodate its success. Of late, I’ve regularly experienced multi-minute page loads. Invitations take 12+ hrs. to show up in the potential member’s email inbox. Reports of this kind of problem on their own network creator forum go back at least a year. I’m more likely to say “$%#&$ Ning” than “the Ning” of late. I hope that poor management doesn’t sink an otherwise promising enterprise.

By: Nelson Bruton

Nelson Bruton — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:24:58 +0000

Ning is the thing. CogDogBlog IS the Blog.

inSocialMedia is in social media.

By: Ian H.

Ian H. — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:13:41 +0000

I had an installation of MediaWiki for a collaborative textbook project in a couple of my history classes, and invariably the students would refer to it as “The Wiki”.

By: Alan Levine aka CogDog

Alan Levine aka CogDog — Mon, 26 May 2008 19:56:10 +0000

Only in your feverish mind, @FakeReverendJim!

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 26 May 2008 19:52:37 +0000

Here is another one:

THE bava :)

By: A. T. Wyatt

A. T. Wyatt — Mon, 26 May 2008 14:33:27 +0000

I am a member of 6 ning communities. While it usually takes quite a while to update the main dashboard when you join a new community, you can move back and forth between all your nings fairly easily. Maybe that is why people think of “the ning”. After all, it is like “the house” even though there are multiple rooms inside and you spend a lot more time in some of them than others!

By: Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:39:51 +0000

I think on our projects we have to “the’s” — THE Ning and THE wiki. These two tools go hand in hand in a very powerful and tangible way.

Sometimes I’m asked as we have various Nings in class which ning — however, rarely as students know that each project has a specific Ning for that project. Usually, they never ask and know what “The Ning” is — I think perhaps it is because The Ning and The Wiki link them to one another without which the connections would not even exist.

The Ning and The Wiki are really like saying “the others I’m working with” because that is where the nexus of interaction occurs.

By: Alan Levine aka CogDog

Alan Levine aka CogDog — Mon, 26 May 2008 00:02:52 +0000

Thanks Jason, though long time readers are aware (and new ones ought to be warned) of my poor command of proper, dare I say goodly, grammar and spehling ;-)

By: Jason Priem

Jason Priem — Sun, 25 May 2008 22:51:48 +0000

Huzzah! The subtleties of grammar and meaning: one of my favorite topics! I agree with you that the use of the definite article does imply a certain familiarity, particularly when compared to using a demonstrative pronoun: "It's on the Ning" vs. "It's on that Ning site." However, I'm not sure that that's true when compared to simply leaving the article off all together. Articles can be funny like that. For instance, I would sound odd saying I saw some news on the CNN, or I read about it in New York Times. I think this distinction reflects the relatively more tangible, instantiated nature of a newspaper compared to a news channel--the difference between a a product and a service. It's an interesting question, though. But I digress. Since web sites and services have traditionally gotten the same article-treatment as TV channels (that is, no article), perhaps saying it's 'on Ning' simply indicates that the sayer sees Ning as a service. Indeed, perhaps saying "The Ning" may to some ears evince unfamiliarity with things web, akin to saying "the Google." Also, "The One Ning" would be an excellent name for a social network of Lord of the Rings fans. Very interesting observation, and I wholeheartedly approve your foray onto the treacherous moors of Grammar. Well done, Good Sir; well done.