Back in December, Madelyn Blair sent a message to the 689 members of Worldwide Story Work noting that she and the other two administrators of the Ning group were contemplating moving the group to Facebook.
Ning, which began as a free platform on which users could create free social-media venues on a huge variety of niche topics, began charging fees to Ning-group creators a few years ago. As Madelyn reported in her email, Worldwide Story Work member contributions to cover the costs had not kept pace. From my observations, it seemed the group had also become less active than it used to be, possibly because members felt spread too thin with their social-media lives (too many venues to visit and interact with). Madelyn asked members for feedback on the possible move.
I wrote back to support the idea (Facebook is my primary social-media outlet) and found myself volunteering to help the group move.
Last weekend, I sent an email to all members informing them of the new incarnation of Worldwide Story Work on Facebook. I’m pleased that, as of this writing, more than 100 members have joined the Facebook group, including a few new folks who weren’t previously members of the Ning group. Lively activity seems to be under way.
You’ll find a wide variety of story practitioners and story appreciators in the group, and you’ll note no restrictions on membership. The group is described this way:
Worldwide Story Work is a community of story practitioners focused on the application of story-based techniques in organizational settings. … Connecting story practitioners wherever the are. This group is the successor to a Ning group of the same name.
I will be moving worthwhile content from the Ning group to the Facebook group. Anyone else who wants to save or download content from the Ning group should do so by Feb. 28, when the group will close down.
Whether or not you were a member of the Ning version of Worldwide Story Work, I hope you’ll consider joining us on Worldwide Story Work on Facebook.