AllFacebook - Latest Comments in Is Facebook the New Ning?

Re: Is Facebook the New Ning?

Joshua March — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:27:32 -0000

I would add to this discussion the interaction between applications, pages and social ads.

Firstly, social ads aren't just for pages - they're for anything on Facebook, including groups and applications. Social ads all work on either a CPC or CPM rate depending on your choice and where you place them (newsfeed ads are currently only CPM), where'as most of the big application ad networks work off a CPI - Cost Per Install. I've ran ad campaigns on Facebook for applications and utilise a mix of these - CPI ads to get an initial userbase, then social ads as a cheaper option which makes use of the friend connections to spread it even further.

Secondly, in many campaigns I've been involved in we've made use of a focal fan page which we've used to seed a variety of relevant applications. We've also built bespoke applications purely for the functionality then can bring to a page.

So, I wouldn't say that they're in direct competition - just something different. If you want to build some form of viral game, or an in-depth, multi-page community on Facebook, you need to use applications, and sometimes pages are more suitable - or they can combine. It's not an either or.

Re: Is Facebook the New Ning?

Bill McGonigle — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:17:33 -0000

Yeah, I looked into getting a Ning community going, but the deal-killer was the requirement for a Ning account. Facebook has the accounts. Linkedin could also do well here.

Re: Is Facebook the New Ning?

Jason Kintzler — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 06:27:24 -0000

As a network creator on Ning, I've experienced the goods and bads and have to say I don't think Facebook is even close to comparing at this point. You say more restrictions are coming, that makes me nervous as well. I'll be giving it a try, as I already have a FB page as well, hoping that sheer number of users will help pull in more users. Thanks for the insight.

Re: Is Facebook the New Ning?

Justin Thorp — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:40:07 -0000

I think Facebook Pages has the potential to help power micro or sub-communities much like Ning but they'd have to build out the functionality dramatically.

Re: Is Facebook the New Ning?

Social Marketing Journal — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:35:00 -0000

Ah, the initial application creators ruined it for the rest with spam. Perhaps having to buy those ads will definitely weed out the crappy applications making the users of Facebook happier overall!