This article was first published to Examiner.com. It is duplicated here because it’s my content.

NING.com, a popular social-network-creation site, has decided to begin charging a monthly and/or yearly subscription fee to all users.

NING became popular because, unlike Facebook and MySpace, NING allows its users to create their own social networking communities based on whatever goals or interests the creator would like to promote.

NING.com has this to say about its services:

Ning is the social platform for the world’s interests and passions online. Millions of people every day are coming together across Ning to explore and express their interests, discover new passions, and meet new people around shared pursuits.

NING began emailing current users at the beginning of May about their free-to-fee intentions.

Starting in July, and there has been no specific date that has been mentioned, all current and future users will be asked to choose from three pricing plans to continue and/or start a customized network. The following image shows NING’s proposed pricing structure:

For detailed information on the different pricing plans, go to Pricing Plans on the NING.com site.

Once the fee-based services begin, NING discloses in its Frequently Asked Questions section that it will not maintain a free-based business model. Once the fee-based structure is live, current users will have 30 days to decide to stay and pay or discontinue their networks. New users will be given a 30-day free trial, but they too will have to decide to pay or go once the trial ends.

For more information about NING.com in general, and about their free-to-fee plans specifically, vist their site.

Twitter + history = Twistory!

Twistory is a service that allows you to save your Twitter updates to your favorite calendar application. You can save to a web calendar or even to Microsoft Outlook. There’s no need to give up your password. All you need is your Twitter handle, and Twistory will generate the URL of your updates.

Please keep in mind that your Twitter account must be set to public, as Twistory will not work with private accounts. Also note that it is only your public updates, not direct messages (DMs), that you will see in your Twistory feed. If you tweet to someone, or if someone tweets to you or about you, these are the updates you’ll see in your calendar.

Why use Twistory?

Twitter, and even Twitter search, only allows you to see your past updates for about two weeks back. Twistory allows you to see much further back than that. It may even go back and bring in updates prior to the date you actually make your first URL request with Twistory.

See the video below for more information on Twistory.

If you can’t see the video below, click here.

Social Media Spotlight: Twistory from Faydra Deon on Vimeo.

Have “they” blocked Twitter and other social media sites in your workplace?

Do you have email?

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

Nutshell Mail allows you to receive updates from Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn. Once you receive your updates via email, there are buttons on which you can click to seamlessly reply and post as if you were in that particular application.

Click the image to see a larger view.

I set up my Twitter account as an example, so I could show you some screenshots of NutshellMail.

The sign-up process for NutShell Mail took me about three minutes.

In the email Nutshell Mail sent me to click to confirm my account, I got my first updates, which included my latest five direct messages and @replies, the latest accounts that have unfollowed my account, my latest 10 updates from any lists I maintain and/or follow, and the latest five tweets from the public timeline. Your maximum items per email can be changed. See the image below:

Click the image to see a larger view.

Nutshell Mail will also show you tweets based on any search terms you’ve saved.

Click the image to see a larger view.

When I clicked the reply link in my email, it took me to the following screen.

Click the image to see a larger view.

Notice all the choices I have: reply, retweet, DM or add this person to a list. Cool, huh? And, all from my email Inbox.

UPDATE: I left out the fact that NutshellMail will also let you monitor all your email accounts.

Click here to get started.

@md20737 turned me on to this social media tool. Thanks, L.T.!

Many of us who use microblogging platforms, like Twitter, are familiar with services that shorten our URLs, so we can maximize the use of our limited characters.

What you may not know, however, is URL-shortening services offer more than just efficient links.

I chose bit.ly as my URL-shortening application, and I like it because it allows me to also track my shortened links and see how many times they’ve been clicked and from where (e.g., the U.S., Canada, Russia, etc.)

I actually have an account with bit.ly, but you don’t need an account to see details of a bit.ly link. In the address bar, simply type the shortened, bit.ly URL and add the plus (+) symbol to the end of the link. Like this:

http://bit.ly/9Z6ohk+

If you click that example, it will take you to detailed information about that particular link.

Another feature I really like with bit.ly is that I can log into my account and shorten any URL I want, even if I’m not planning to use it on a microblogging site. I don’t even have to go to bit.ly to do this if I download and install the bit.ly sidebar on my browser.

If I’m using Firefox or Google Chrome,  I can even preview the full-length links from which the shortened bit.ly link was created before I click on it.

I’ve even gotten an API key to use with other social media sites that have auto-shortening capabilities (i.e., TweetDeck and SocialOomph), so that my links will be shortened with bit.ly and not some other URL-shortening tool.

One of the best features of bit.ly is that it’s free!

To check it out, or to sign up for your own account with bit.ly, go to the bit.ly Home Page.

Gather.com, a free service to “keep up with the people, conversations, and moments that matter,” was started by Tom Gerace and the American Public Media Group (APMG) in 2005.

Gather.com a platform for the over-30 crowd to chat about topics that are meaningful to their lives. You “gather” with other users who share your interests; people you may not have an opportunity to meet in our everyday life.

This is a place for bloggers who are interested in a company that offers branded communities and revenue sharing. The more popular your posts, the more points you earn and the more ad revenue you can garner.

You can find me there as Faydra Deon (of course! haha) Visit Gather.com to see what it’s all about!