Ning seems interesting. It's cool that it's aimed more for adults but so far I don't think it has gotten much public attention. I'm definitely pro social networking, I lurve flickr, twitter, last.fm and facebook. I like how Ning consolidates recent user blog posts but this is only really useful if there is real, valuable content. For example some of the blog posts listed at the Library 2.0 Ning page are relevant and interesting (example), but there are also links to this and this. Probably just librarians trying out Ning for their 23 things! And while there are a lot of 'groups' associated with the Library 2.0 page, most of them haven't had much activity in a while. The Teacher/Librarian Ning on the other hand seems really active.
I've used Webjunction for a few online course but haven't found it to be super engaging. It's functional, but kind of cold. It doesn't seem to be a very participatory environment. But maybe I just didn't look hard enough. Seems like more of a reference type of site, where you go when you're looking for a specific kind of information.
The time article asks if there is a market for smaller, niche, social networking sites. And I think there is, but they need a really loyal and participatory base to be successful first. Only time will tell if these networks can develop an active base. I think a big element to it is a straightforward and easy to use design. I was a little skeptical of twitter at first but it's so easy to use, and as I was learning so was the rest of the world. So by the time I was hooked, so was everyone else! Maybe though, social network sites geared towards adults are a little slower to catch on. Facebook and twitter really caught the interest of a younger, tech-savvy audience then gained more adult users as they got more attention.
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