The creation of websites or social networks is not restricted to specialists in computer programming. Several online services allows you to easily create online communities, social networks and collaborative websites. They are largely inspired by the functionality offered by Facebook or Twitter and allow you to create websites for different purposes:

marketing (create a community of fans).

productivity gains and collaborative work.

exchange of knowledge and expertise.

Here is an overview some tools to easily create your own online community: Ning, Grou.ps, Groupsite and SocialGO.

Ning allows you to create custom social network to facilitate interaction between members of a community. This web platform offers various tools and all the features you would expect of a social network:

Members can create public profiles.

Community spaces: blog, discussion forums, chats.

Members of the community can share articles and other content (photos, videos),

Social features: likes, comments.

Integration with Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

Associations, communities, brands and businesses.

An administration panel allows you to manage permissions and adjust the visibility of the website.

Customizable interface with graphic styles:themes, the layout of the website, tabs, menus, etc..

SEO tools.

Monetization options: ads, premium space...

Analytics tool to track the most active members, and improve the interactivity of the website.

A module for e-mail marketing

Ning offers three types of services:

Mini - (150 Members and 1 GB of storage) at €2.95 per month.

Plus - (up to 10,000 members, 10 GB of storage) at €14.95 per month.

Pro - (unlimited number of members, 20 GB of storage) at €34.95 per month.

Grou.ps is a web platform for creating social network and communities of interest/collaborative websites. It is based on Open Source software.

Grou.ps addresses the same niche as Ning users: including the brands, companies, organizations, institutions specialized in education (e.g universities)

Third-party applications to enhance interactions within the community: forums, blogs, wikis, events (calendar) photos, videos, etc..

Application to organize fundraising activities.

Moderation options and access rights management.

Grou.ps allow you to create your applications for BlackBerry, iPhone and Android.

Over 70 templates available.

Monetization options

Bronze offer: 150 members, 1 GB of storage at $2.95/month.

Silver offer: 1000 members, 5 GB of storage space at 8.95 dollars/month.

Gold offer: 1000 members, 10 GB of storage space for $ 19.95 / month

Platinum offer: It is suitable for universities and communities (unlimited storage space and members), at $29.95/month.

Groupsite is intende for the creation communities and private social networks to facilitate collaborative work within a company.

Management of access rights.

Blogging, forums and restricted access to shared calendars.

File sharing and widgets.

Small Team ($30/month, 50 users)

Large team ($50/month, 150 users)

Collaboration Community ($75/month and over 300 users)

SocialGO is a platform for creating social websites, with advanced integration options with Facebook and Twitter. It is well suited to the creation of communities or professional collaborative spaces (e.g groupware in business).

Integration with Facebook and Twitter contribute to enhance the visibility of the site and facilitate members' recommendations. This platform is particularly recommended for users who want to create a viral effect around their content.

It provides tools and community features close to Ning and Grou.ps.

SocialGO offers formulas: