Savvy Chavvy – building social networks on Ning

Citizen Journalism is…

• Ordinary people

having conversations

Using:

• Blogs

• Podcasts

• Video blogging

• Social Networks

• Wikis

Web 1.0 was all about pulling information down from the

internet

Web 2.0 is all about sharing…

…and networks…

…and niche networks that you can create yourself.

Savvy Chavvy

• A social network for young Gypsies and Travellers in the UK

• 2,524 members

• Won the first Catalyst Communities award in July 2008

• ‘Chavvy’ is a Romany word for ‘child’

Savvy Chavvy

• Young Travellers use the network as a safe place to have discussions, find family members, make friends and arrange events

Rosina Hughes is 17 from Wareham, Dorset. She says:

• "It's great to have a site where you feel comfortable and safe discussing these things”

• "They have Gypsy hate groups, so it's important that we have our own space."

• “You're all dirty” and “you're all scum”, are some of the racist responses she says she has received on other social networking sites.

You can set up your own network for your community or

organisation by using free networks like:

• www.ning.com

• www.webjam.com

• We set Savvy Chavvy up using Ning

TOP TEN TIPSto set up a network on Ning

1)Firstly, you need to consider the purpose of your network – who will be your members and why will they use this website above others? What need does your network address?

Set Up

2)Go to www.ning.com and set up your network, choosing a catchy name and Ning web address. It’s very simple; all you need is an email address and it takes a couple of minutes

Privacy

3)Choose how public or private it is going to be – can everyone on the web see and contribute to your network or will it be closed and private for your members only?

Tagline

4)Give your network a tagline and short description - what’s it all about? The tagline should consist of one pithy sentence, E.g. www.savvychavvy.com: ‘A social network for young Gypsies and Travellers in the UK’

Features

5)Next, add features to your network. You can drag and drop functions like ‘forum’, ‘chat’, ‘blog’, ‘video’ & ‘photos’ into the front page. You might, for example, place the ‘forum’ function prominently in the middle of the page if having discussions is the main purpose of your network

Design

6)Choose a design – Ning will give you lots of templates to choose from and you can customize one with your own choice of images, fonts and colours

Content

7)Your network is now ready for content – help to define the network’s identity by starting discussions, posting photos, adding videos etc that are relevant to the purpose of the website

People

8)Invite people to the network – start by inviting relevant people and welcoming them by writing a note on their pages.

If you’re trying to attract a certain community don’t send out blanket invites to attract a volume of members – the quality and relevance of your members is what will help it grow and develop into a sustainable space. You can support this by writing your own relevant joining up questions

Engage

9)Keep the community active and interested – once you have a working network, keep your members engaged by making small changes to the site, adding new content and sending them relevant information (without spamming them with constant messages!)

Extras

10)Ning is free but you can purchase optional services like the removal of ads, the ability to use your own domain name and extra storage

Contact nathalie@onroadmedia.org.uk

Twitter @natmcwww.onroadmedia.org.uk