How to Start Your Own Free Social Network Site

Ning

Have a favorite topic that no one, but you, seems to care about? Maybe you love '68 Mustang hatchbacks or have a slew of wheat-free recipes that you'd like to share with others. There has to be folks out there who share your passion. Why not start your own social network on the topic and build a community of like-minded folks who would like to discuss it? Here is how.

Things You'll Need

• An Internet connection
• An account with Ning

Instructions

1. Sign up with Ning to create a free online community. This is the perfect tool for creating a social network and community building.

2. Think carefully about the name you want for your community. It should communicate purpose clearly and be easy for users to remember and recommend.

3. Go though the setup for your community at Ning. There's a drag and drop interface to quickly add features to your network. Features you can choose from include RSS feeds, blogs, groups, chat, music and group calendars.

4. The whole point of a social network is interaction with others--but you want to be able to moderate that interaction so nobody spams or posts inappropriately. Set up the moderation rules for the network, which decides what members of the network can and can't do: Can they add to the calendar? Create posts? Upload photos? You can also set rules for how you will ban members.

5. Of course, you are going to be concerned about appearance. You can customize layout, appearance, the CSS for the site, decide which widgets to include and more.

6. The final step is to invite your friends to join, publicize the new network and generally let the world know that you are on the Web and open for discussion and networking.

Resources

• Ning