I don't know how I missed this one months ago but a colleague of mine today pointed me toward Ning, the latest project from Netscape co-founder Marc Andreesen, which allows anyone or company to set up a social network with all the latest bells and whistles virtually for free (see article in Information Week). Ning has 61,000 social networks in place, ranging from individual sites to powering social networks for CBS TV shows.
With minimal set-up costs, Ning makes it that much easier for any B2B or B2C facing company to use social networking as a marketing tool. GM has had a great deal of success with its FastLane blog - why wouldn't it, for example, build a social network around its brands - for example, a social network for Corvette owners.
Of course, the hard part is still building a vibrant network, but at least the toolkit now comes virtually for free.
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