Comments on: Ning vs. WidgetLaboratory and the challenges underlying ‘open’ platforms

By: destiny campbell

destiny campbell — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:19:26 +0000

I ABSOULUTELY DESPISE NING. I AM NOT AS BIG AS WL COMPANY BUT I COMPLAINED TO FCC AND BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU A DISPUPTE WITH THEM AND POOR BILLING WHEN THE FORCED PEOPLE TO CHANGE FROM THE FREE PLAN! THEY DID THE SAME THING TO ME JUST SHUT DOWN MY SITE AFTER SPENDING THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS SETTING IT UP!!!! THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT PROFESSIONAL AND PUT ME THROUGH HELL FOR MONTHS. WL IF YOU NEED A WITNESS PLEASE HAVE YOUR LAWYERS CALL ME I HAVE TONS OF EMAILS OF PROOF! PLEASE EMAIL ME IF SOMEONE HAS NING OWNER CONTACT I NEED TO DEAL WITH THIS STILL NOT OVER…

By: jets for sale

jets for sale — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:02:31 +0000

Do you think Ning can bring my charter business to the next level.. I mean connecting with interested buyers and or charters for special event.. I did hear it is hard to optimize for Google.. Can you respond.. Thanks

By: Ning Fucks Adult Network Owners : The Drama 2.0 Show

Ning Fucks Adult Network Owners : The Drama 2.0 Show — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 06:13:01 +0000

[...] previously fucked some of them over when, without so much as an hour’s warning, disabled applications sold by one of the [...]

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:20:47 +0000

This page came up when I was Googling Ning’s shutdown last night (10/22/08) of their source code access, php and scripting abilities. Apparently Widget Laboratories was about to release new features to export Ning users so people can migrate to other networks tonight (10/23/08)…

Seems incredibly anti-competitive to me, especially when another partner (Scripts for Ning) applications continue to function. Nuts!

By: socialtwist

socialtwist — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:43:08 +0000

very sad story of partner success can make the platform vendor turn on them. Hope it gets resolved amicably.

By: digital marketing agency

digital marketing agency — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:06:30 +0000

Is there a way to upload meta data to a ning website?

By: rocketfuelbaby

rocketfuelbaby — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:06:50 +0000

Great write-up. I wish they could be more transparent about this. I was planning to build a business much like WL and partner with Ning to provide rich applications on their platform. I’m just not so sure anymore because of this.

By: Tel

Tel — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:41:57 +0000

Ning has the right (at its sole discretion) to delete or deactivate your account, block your email or IP address, or otherwise terminate your access to or use of the Ning Platform or any Network, or remove and discard any Code or Content within any Network, without notice and for any reason.

It’s amazing how many people don’t read licenses (until it is too late). No matter how attractive a project might be, if the license is one-sided, and not the sort of conditions you want to be living with on an ongoing basis… then… AVOID THAT PROJECT.

By: Daniel J. Pritchett

Daniel J. Pritchett — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:27:56 +0000

This is a great story and I’ve had fun tracking it and blogging about it. I’d love to learn more from the parties involved but until there’s a lawsuit it seems like this one’s over.

I agree with you that the important takeaway here is not about Ning per se but rather the implications on SaaS providers (such as nGenera!) and the obligations inherent in publishing and supporting an API for 3rd party contributors like WidgetLab.

Good writeup, thanks for the in-depth look.