Unsettling News About Our Community
I want to go on the books by stating this is one of the most difficult announcements to make in the entire 5 years Raginpit Magazine has been in operation.
About 2 weeks ago I was asked to do some research to make sure that one of our groups on our community site was not violating any Terms of Service agreements with the Ning platform. The Ning platform or network is the social website service that http://raginpit.ning.com runs from. Some of our members who joined up from Myspace may not be aware of this so I felt that's first important to mention.
Being part of a service like Ning comes with advantages and disadvantages such as - you can build a community quite fast and they provide you most of the the tools you need to do so. There are several Ning networks out there for almost every interest group. People can jump back and forth from one network to another with little effort and you can maintain the same profile account on each site you join. When we signed up we were also under the terms of service rules stating that we own all content posted to our sites and content posted by you the members own yours. They said they would not exploit that.
Some of the downers include the spamming of members increasing as you join more networks unless you actively go in and turn on all your privacy settings on each individual site you have joined. Some Nings have privacy modifications so you may have more security on one Ning site than another. You the Ning creator can't advertise on your site unless you are a premium member. The price isn't so high, so it's a foreseeable goal to look forward to as a network creator. You get to be private, your members get to be private if they so choose, and you also get to take over the advertising and have the Ning brand removed.
What an offer, right?
Well the last couple of days I have discovered an internet war ensuing between Ning creators and Ning.com who decided to, as of Dec 2008, "Ning reversed its policy against meddling in the content of individual networks." All Adult sites who were promised to be protected if they join Ning are being deleted as of Jan 1st 2009. That's no biggie I'm sure to most except die hard porn fans who were duped into driving traffic there and nudists duped into believing Ning would not judge their cause.
As of early March you probably received an email from Ning.com talking about how you can now view all your social networks through "one profile!" Here is what's screwed about that - so can every other member on Ning.com. This means that if you signed up on one of Ning's private networks that you DON'T wish for others to know about, think again... Ning just exposed your ass and left you hanging in the wind. Go take a look and change your privacy settings now. It may be too late though as now all your co-workers and family know everything about you if you have it posted on one of these sites and they are also members.
The indecent material issue is still raging through, as I also discovered Ning's talk about a censorship deptartment is very real. There are no set terms on which everything should be judged and is now left up to them to decide for you what's okay and what isn't. I actually found a Ning site that has been under fire who had material deleted and the network creator was warned. It was a fan site for Netflix!
That spells it out really clear for me as a metal head that it's only a matter of time before we are all under fire. There are several metal Nings I know of. If you are a member on any of these than you are exposed on Ning.com right now.
If you are a Network creator and paid premium prices, your anonymity is now gone. They said they were not going to email your members, but they did email all of the non-premium sites. Now your members and other members of other networks already know your a Ning, so that didn't do any good.
I know a lot of you would like to say thanks to Ning for all of these wonderful changes, but even if you did, Ning would delete your comments.
This leaves a huge issue with us. Where do we go from here? Do we continue and say, "fuck it, they have us over a barrel?"
We do have an option which is to pull away from Ning knowing there is a high risk of losing all of our members in the process.
We can build a new community and I found a script out there that can allow us to build a community site more suited for bands and fans with way more features. We will take a financial hit to build it and things will slow down again for a bit to do so.
Doing so we CAN guarantee your privacy at that point because we will be in control of everything. It would mean moving content from the now exsiting Raginpit Ning community and you would have to set up a new account.
Perks:
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- Each profile will still be customizable like the old days of Myspace with a simple to use profile editor built in.
- Bands will get free PDF electronic press kits and will have full stats on how their music, videos and profile is doing.
- Automatic banner generator and the friend system is separated so bands have fans and friends have friends. This means you will have more control over what bands send you and bands can concentrate on those who really support them and not just someone doing a link exchange with your friends list.
Long story short it's loaded and would not take too long to install and get our community back to moving again.
This is just an option. Personally we are sick of all the problems we keep running into relying on other people's ambitions and get rich schemes that always bring us back to starting over and over. We are really wanting to go independent and make our own rules, which accommodates the metal life style and people with understanding of who we are. We feel this needs to be solved soon in order to not disrupt business already in motion to provide solid publicity to the bands and professionals who participate with us and the fans who enjoy what we do.
It all seems to be very bad timing.
Please leave a comment.
Should we stay knowing what is going on with Ning Networks? We know they are making bad choices, we also know they are just trying to establish their business which is now worth a lot of money. We have no idea what troubles they may be trying to work through in order keep things going.
On the other hand, maybe leaving and going totally independent with our own site and server might be safer for us and you. The first trouble we see with going that way is losing a lot of users. We don't know if people on our site are here because it's an awesome looking Ning community or if they are here and down for our ideas and goals which is to build the biggest and best independent network for metal artists.
We honestly believe Raginpit can make a difference and help find better ways to bring more people into shows through improved street promotions and marketing. We have had more than a few successful events of our own and we don't mind spreading the "know how" on making that happen for you.
Please check out these reference links I found through Google.
Ning Exposed - Tech Company Scams its Clients
Ning Takes Important First Step; But Is it Enough?
The Ning Controversy Reflects Why Web Platforms Are Stagnating
Ning, Please Listen To Your Network Creators - An active petition going on right now
FaceBook was never this much fun... Hello NingBook!
XP Censorship and Advertising Dollars! - Their forum was closed because you can't have a general un-moderated discussion forum on Ning. That would be in Raginpit terms the "Mob Rules" forum provided to give you freedom of speech.
Take some time ponder what this all means to you and your privacy, the intellectual property you own and let us know what you think we should do. How do you feel about all this?
Buy me a shot! [CLICK HERE]
Bastards.
I say we bail and set up the new site. I know it means some hassle, money, and downtime but in my opinion it would be in the best interest of the community here. Thanks for the heads up guys!
Well! I have never even heard of ning! Haha
I really don’t know all the much about the internet….
so all this is confusing to me.
I pretty much use it for the Metal scene.
I say do what ever is BEST for Metal music.
And you have to do what’s safest for the people…..
I have no loyalty to Ning, never even heard of them until I joined here and also Metal Network. So the metal is why i’m here. Lead on and I will follow, just tell me where to put my stuff.
According to your article, it will only be a matter of time before Ning would make us “disappear” anyway. I say spread the word to everyone here that we are leaving for a better future, somewhere else. Just let us know where we are going when you know…
Im here for Metal!!!
Email Response from Metal Queens Ning:
Yeah, I’ve been looking into all of the facts myself and it does seem grim for us Metalheads… I used to belong to the Metal Militia site but I think they shut down for the same reason, and when ning came along I thought it was good… now I’m trying to get as many friends fast and push them toward my Myspace page.
If you do go ahead and make an independent site, count me in… and my mailing list of 21,000+ Metalheads (mostly female) to know about it as well.
Armand Rosamilia
We agree, probably better to go elsewhere, we are still going 2 push via Myspace and Facebook and update the links to the new page!
Peace
H8FX
For what I do. privacy isn’t much of an issue, I feel Ive given up that little privilege by posting my site and myself all over the internet. if they want to share anything or “steal”.. feel free. But as for deceiving the artists and changing the rules to suite them, thats another side of the coin. Alot of the content on my Ning Page is not my own, “music, vids” but I was allowed to post with Artists permission. With these rules changing there seems to be some confusion on who now owns the content on the page. I will not put in jeopardy the friendships and trust I have achieved over the years for the sake of Ning. I will be removing all content over the next few days. But remain a member as long as this site exists.
If owners decide to pull stakes and leave… I would be honored to be a part of the move.
Okay…here’s my response.
Being a co-owner of a web design business, I don’t have much time for ‘forums’ and pages like facebook, twitter, myspace, etc. I have those accounts, as well as a linkedin so I can check in on contacts from time to time…and advertise if needed. I also never heard of ning until I rejoined the wonderful metalheds of RP. Thing is, I don’t want to see my personal data jumbled up or misused at all. And it does bother me a lot that ning may keep stuff about me that I’ve deleted. I’d love to see RaginPit as it’s own entity…an independent website again. I like writing, and enjoy writing about shows I go to, etc., but I’m not one for taking time to surf and post on forums and networking sites. Just too busy, really. Ditch the ning and just be a website where we can read and catch up on the metal music scene, that’s my opinion.
I back SpiderWoman’s response because she is my partner and we share a lot of the same views.
When it comes to freedom of speech, I tend to get all fired up! Especially when it comes from someone/somewhere outside of the communist/dictatorship world… “The Free World”, eh???
N*ng has obviuosly planned this move since its inception. It was probably deeply rooted in their original business plan, whether it was transparent or not, they knew what they were doing. How else can one compete with the likes of MySpace, Google, or AIG for that matter?
But, getting back to what SpiderWoman said and what John said in a nutshell… do your own thing – be independent. This is what ultimately will make you stand out from the rest of the crowd. Right?
This can also relate to the previous discussion about deleting the RP MySpace page! We’re spending entirely too much time relying on other website portals, social networks and websites to interact when in fact, the tools to create our own network, on our own terms, and own freedoms are already in place.
this censorship needs to end and the sharing of personal info with out permission.
its only a matter of time before they get rid of sites like raginpit, if you dont conform to there wishes.
who are they to dictate what we do.
As a matter of fact, I am planning to delete my account here due to N*ng’s recent activities. I do not support that kind of business. Been screwed around by too many times by similar companies in the past and refuse to put up with it. I will follow up with a letter to them directly which will likely get tossed in the trash.
We are pretty pissed about all of this too. One of the biggest issues we run into with bands and getting them interested in what we are about is; “Trust.”
It’s a flood out there right now as everyone is trying to get a grip on the internet and the big social wave that dominates everything.
I know major changes on most internet sites at least send out questionnaire or polls to see what their members think. I always felt that is the best policy. After all our site wouldn’t be anything without the music to write about.
To an artist your craft is everything. It’s a website owners responsibility to treat that material with care as long as it’s on their server. Rights need to be respected. There are no exceptions.
Anytime you’re under the rule of anyone, it’s only a matter of time before they bite you in the ass. I’m like others in this response, move on, find means to cater to the metal minded where you’re the boss. I feel the same way as my friends on this site, you leave NING, I’m right behind you. Whatever you decide I support you, and want to once again thank you for all your time and effort, supporting the Metal minded out there.
I’m pretty much the same. The whole essence of metal of stemmed from rebellion! lol. We do need our own independant site. By metalheads, with metalheads, and for metalheads. \m/
I am all for becoming an independent website. Wherever you go I am sure to follow. Thank you for informing us on what crap the Ning is up to! I support any decision you all make.
Rookie
This is Droid from the metalband HEBRON. It’s alway’s been our policy that if a word or contract is broken that it is best to break ties. Also go with what you feel is right! Hebron will stick with you, what ever path You decide to take. We fully support what your trying to do for the metal community! More metal heads need to step up out of the “underground” and show the world that we’re here to stay and no one and nothing will take that away from us. Keep it metal, keep it brutal
-Droid
If going independent is a rebellion, then let’s embrace it. The way I see things, its a win, win situation.
1) We buck a corrupt system that has invaded and exposed our personal information.
2) We gain freedom.
I have never been one that plays well with others and in this instance I think that’s a good thing.
Everything that Ning is doing is exactly what Raginpit is NOT about. And I am really pissed that my personal information has been compromised in the name of profit. Fuck that.
It is in our members best interest if we go independent. We would all regain our privacy and we would only be responsible for ourselves. No other rules to play by, but our own.
We have knowledge to share, networks to create, and an overall want advance all aspects of the metal community. It’s our time.
It sucks that every time we find a cool place to dwell they have to go change the rules. But it sounds like this new site your building will be better so of course you know I will follow and take all my friends with me…
http://www.gopetition.com/tell.php?petid=26144
Go here to email to petition for support.
I am a member of a Ning network. I am opposing Nings actions on how they tried to silence it’s network owners from voicing out against the merging companies, Ning to Ning.com. Nings involvement of violating service contracts with network owners; people who have made contributing networks and communities is appalling to its core. It violates our freedom in many ways; Speech, censoring and discrimination. I promise I will not support any advertisers who buy advertisement space on Ning.com. I will support a break off but I think Ning should pay for the expense of the change, and, they should not be allowed to absorb your customers or members into one large data base like Myspace and Facebook.
My first suggestion would be contacting 50 cent and tell him that this is in his best interest to understand how a merge effects him as an artist who relies on freedom of speech. Someone needs to talk with him and ask that he support this cause. Threaten that he will pull his group out and move to (the new us network), if this merge occurs. We have to get people who have pull to step up, and stand with us.
BE SURE TO SIGN THE PETITION
http://www.gopetition.com/tell.php?petid=26144
Good call, look forward 2 c the new digs
Peace
H8FX