Ning

I read about this new site in Marc Andreessen's blog, blog.pmarc.com.

Ning is a site where one can create one's own kind of social network. It provides users with a platform for maybe, creating one's own kind of MySpace, Friendster, or Facebook (although he laments the comparisons some people have made of Ning and these social networking sites.) By using Ning, one is not constrained by the limits these other social networking sites have. This goes to show that social networking on the internet has really gone a long way. I am wondering though why Friendster did not take off the way MySpace did. What is very interesting about this whole phenomenon is that, the internet makes people from all walks of life (even pedophiles) to freely interact with each other, and yet not really interact at all. In this environment, one gets to project to the world whatever aspect of one's personality. Newsweek had this for a cover feature.

The underlying notion that I see from the ventures of Marc Andreessen seems to be that the Internet is for everyone, and truly it is the best model for a democracy. He has always blazed the trail for innovations on the net, and through his ventures, makes it more accessible to everyone.

The question that props up to mind now is the question of regulation. Burma tried to do it recently. China has the Great Wall of the Internet. But can we really regulate the net? Would it be easier to make it self-regulating? To some extent some sites do, like YouTube and Wikipedia. The problem will always be those people who are on the margins, those who choose not to follow the laws, the ethics, or the self-imposed rules with regard to the net. And those are the people, we future lawyers will be trying to fight for or to fight against. And the results of those battles will shape the future of the Internet.