A little over two months ago, the social network platform Ning made social media headlines when it announced that its longtime CEO would be stepping down and that its free service model was being nixed (don’t forget that 40 percent of Ning’s staff was laid off too). The company has officially announced its new tiered pay models to the public. Well, what if you’re someone who really enjoyed what the free version of Ning had? Maybe you’re a little disappointed that payment is required and you want to explore other options. Luckily you can. There are actually quite a few alternative platforms to Ning, but rather than bombarding you with all of them (save that one for a future post), let’s just take a quick peek at one of them. Today’s spotlight is on BigTent. The account interface to set-up BigTent looks fresh and clean. Plenty of support available online to help newbies get up and running in no time. The best part is that BigTent is free. No fees, just a place for folks to gather together which is why it’s worth reviewing. BigTent's positioning itself against Yahoo! Groups as a competitor and the contrasts are visually and verbally communicated throughout BigTent’s site. If you’re well-versed in Yahoo! Groups the transition to BigTent should be fairly simple. Here’s the skinny on some of its features:

• Buzz page - this is the main page that can be customized to explain what your group is about. You can include photos, videos, calendars and just about anything else to make it your own.
• Forum - organized by threads, members have the option of participating directly to a thread or by email.
• Polling - create a poll and get your members to weigh-in.
• Photos - post and exchange with group members. Always a nice feature to have.
• Filesharing - being able to exchange data through the site turns it into a communication tool that can be used in a variety of other ways.
• Group news - admins can publish announcements, send photos and share links through this feature and they can also send out updates to members directly to their emails.
• Events - complete event coordination can be handled from this location including, payment collection, volunteer assignments, sign-up members for the event and more.
• Shop - more than 30 retail affiliates are linked through this tab and members can purchase from iTunes, Benefit Cosmetics and Chico’s, just to name a few.
• Members - click on other member profiles to learn more about each other and connect with people who share common interests.
• Reviews & Classifieds - this is a place where members can share their opinions on products and services, as well as post items that they have for sale. Might not be a feature that every group needs, but it’s available if you want it.
• Subgroups - this helps organize and nurture the interest of group members. It’s a separate place to discuss and exchange ideas with the same functionalities as the Buzz page.

Some of the other features of BigTent let you collect group dues and manage the membership process, as well as increase membership by sending email invites and setting up a sign-up box widget on your blog or website for people to sign-in and join. So far, BigTent seems to be a good solution for Ning users who are wondering where to go. Again, there are quite a few alternative sites available and each has its pros and cons. The nice thing about so many options is that there’s something out there for everyone.

Let us know about your experiences with BigTent or other social networking platforms. We’re always interested in learning more.