Niche Social Networks Gaining Traction

Although larger social media players like Facebook and Twitter bring in the masses, niche social networks are gaining traction through sites such as Ning.com. Ning lets users create their very own social networks based on any kind of special interest.  The New York Times reports that there are currently 200,000 active networks in use. Furthermore, “Ning had two million new registered users in February, and its growth grew to 2.4 million new registered users in March”.

Ning.com has had some impressive growth, boasting very good numbers. “ Around 2.6 million individual pieces of content — photos, blog posts, etc — are added every single day, for a total of half a billion unique content items created to date. The site had 2.7 billion pageviews in March. Between 3,000 and 3,500 new networks are created on the site each day, and 700,000 of the site’s 22 million total registered members have created their own network”. Part of Ning’s success stems from the idea behind bringing people with common interests together across the world. While Facebook and Twitter might connect users that know each other, Ning might connect users that did not know each other prior.  How will Ning capitalize on its wins? Unlike other networks, Ning has a premium account option which can monetize the use of a network. Another avenue to consider is advertising. Nevertheless, Ning’s wins show the rise in need for niche sites.