Making a Social Networking Application, Part 1

I was dubious when Ning unveiled itself. It's a neat concept: Give users a web-based tool for constructing social networking applications, systems such as Friendster or Orkut that allow members to associate themselves with other members and self-organize into groups. But I questioned the usefulness of the application. Online social networks, for all the hype they generated two years ago, rarely seem to offer much beyond job searches or online dating. (Web 2.0 zealots could no doubt offer grandiose visions of what they will be, someday).

You can guess what happened next. An idea for a social networking application came to me and now I'm all excited about it. The specific problem I want to solve is to give our friends a chance to join us on our weekly farmer's market forays. We frequent a number of markets, and I want our SF friends to know when we'll be at the Ferry Plaza Market. Or at the Grand Lake market for our Oakland friends. We often run into friends by chance, and it always makes the excursion more fun.

The concept extends in an obvious way: Give any farmer's market attendees a chance to organize "meet-ups" with other local shoppers. Friends could organize shopping excursions, and shoppers could meet new people in their community who share an interest in food or cooking. In other words, give people an electronic way to organize a specific type of real-world event ("farmer's market flash mobs," said my friend Sean). The idealist in me hopes it will get more people to farmer's markets and strengthen local communities. A boy can dream. I envision "farmer's market klatches" that meet regularly for coffee and produce. I see visitors or newcomers to a region using the system to meet local foodies. For instance, Melissa and I could have joined (or organized) a Greenmarket meet-up when we went to New York City.

I decided to give Ning a try. I also decided to blog about it here so other would-be Ningers could see the process. Ning applications are fully exposed—the system makes it easy to copy someone else's code—so there's no propietary information to guard. Keep an eye on this site to see the process. And eventually, keep an eye on the application I'm writing.