The True Value of Ning?

I’ve been mulling over for some days now what I read @Injenuity. Jennifer Jones wrote a compelling post about “Being Trapped in a Ning”
She mentions:

I have found that my most rewarding online connections are with people I know where to find when I need them. The tool doesn’t even matter. I’ve learned their habits and can locate them in a space where they are most comfortable interacting. There are people I’m connected with through gmail chat, skype, twitter, blogs, email and other networks, but I’ve learned which arena works best for communicating with each of them. For my Twitter contacts, I can quickly check their status on Twitter, and if they’re around, I’ll contact them through the method that works best. My colleagues all have preferred contact methods. I have some instructors who only use the phone, others email.

At the end of the year, I created the Ning group for my online students and blogged about it saying that Ning was the place where learning happened. http://explorations.bloxi.jp/a/ning-wher…
However, I must agree with Jennifer. Learning is not in Ning. It’s everywhere. When people already have their own spaces of self-expression, if they started blogging somewhere else, it’s like as if they’re dispersing their thoughts instead of aggregating them. For example, I love the fact that in the blogging4educators Ning, whenever we want we can start a forum discussion, or share something there. However, people already have their preferred way of sharing and collaborating. So, aren’t we forcing them into a relationship that existed before? Do we need to be in the “same room” to be tied and dialogging? Of course not. That’s why I feel now that I was pushing the members there, but, in fact, our bonds were already strong in other online spaces. I still like the idea of having everybody there and knowing that whenever needed we can just send a message to the network with something interesting. But, yes, Jen, what really matters is aggregating conversations and building up knowledge using each one’s favorite means and not forcing people into a digital trap. I do hope that the members in the blogging4educators don’t feel this way. I do hope that if they decided to join the group is because they saw value in it. However, it is worth speaking up our minds and questioning our practices. As for my students, it’s a different case in the sense that most of them don’t have an online presence in their learning process. They have their favorite social networks, but they consider it a different domain of socialization, not for learning, though they might be learning valuable skills. So, Ning, can focus their attention to the learning process. But, again, I have had such amazing interactions through emails, skype chats, Orkut messages with them that we might be trapped in some way. They might feel I don’t want to communicate in another digital medium, which is certainly not true. They are mostly busy adults who prefer to receive an email. Some will give me feedback and keep conversations. Others read my personal blog.
Ning is still an appealing place for learning and sharing, and I’ve had invaluable interactions there. For example, Celso, a former student, has been reporting his learning journey abroad in a forum, Marcelo talks about his news professional challenges in a blog.However, it only works if it’s the group willingness to interact there, and not us trapping a group of brilliant minds in a space that they don’t feel as theirs. It shouldn’t be unilateral where one person is trying to feed the group with information, resources, ideas, but an interactive space. If it’s not, maybe we’re using the wrong tool for the right purpose. Then, we’re missing the wonderful input each one can contribute in a network.
In the case of my online students, I know that some of them have fully profited from it and I have, as well. But, now, I think, couldn’t we keep having enriching connectivity where we started, on our class blog? A lot of food for thought there. I still believe in the power of Ning, but with more critical eyes, pondering its true value for networking. I’ll keep exploring it to have a clearer view how it’s useful in my professional development and in my students’ learning path.
Michele Martin discusses the issue in the Bamboo Project Blog. She sees the value of Ning for new users of social media, the ones who still don’t have their own blogs, or don’t use RSS to keep connected to others in their network. As I mentioned above, this is exactly the case when some of my students profit from Ning. Their shared space become a sandbox for their self-expression. It can be the spark they need to speak up their minds and find the tone of their potent voices. .