Why are there so many networking sites and which one do I join?

GETTING STARTED - HELPFUL INFO:
Regional NGU Network: Young adults living in the South Central region.
Local NGU Network: Young adults living in a specific state or area.
NGU Groups/Chapters: Young adults part of the same spiritual community or church.
Individual NGU Member Page: Each young adult's individual page and info.

Why are there so many networking sites and which one do I join?

This is a great question and I want to clarify the intention behind the NGU sites:

I first want to explain NING. NING is an online social networking programming company and all of our NGU sites are designed through this program and company.

There is a regional website for our entire NGU region called "NGU SCUCA" (South Central Unity Churches Association) which is the domain www.southcentralngu.com. This is very necessary on a regional level. Every state within our region is listed as a GROUP on this site and this is simply so people who don't have a local NGU website can at least join their "state's" group and connect with other young adults on more of a LOCAL level.

My intention originally was that every NGU Chapter (every church's or spiritual community's NGU group) also have its own NING website. However, it didn't make sense for small chapters to have an entire network when there are only 4-5 NGU'ers in their chapter. Therefore, I decided to make the NING networks for larger areas, or even an entire state, specifically for the few NGU chapters in that state. For example, NGU NEW MEXICO is for the entire state; whereas NGU DFW is for the Dallas/Fortworth Metroplex area. These local sites are to be used so that all NGU chapters in that local area can connect. Once a local website is created for your NGU, there is no need to join your "state's" GROUP available on www.southcentralngu.com. Those GROUPS are created for people who join the regional site to connect with other people close to them who don't have a local ning site created to do so, which most don't. There are currently only 5 Local NGU sites created. Although NGU chapters with local NING sites have no need to join their state's GROUP on the Regional site, it is still necessary to become a member of the SCUCA Regional NGU site because this is where all REGIONAL updates and events are posted. Again, the local NGU sites, such as NGU DFW, are for any local events.

What I will look into doing is linking any state GROUPS on the www.southcentralngu.com site to their local NGU website once one is created, so it takes them directly there. As more NING sites are created for local NGU groups, I can do this and I think it's a great idea. Less confusion.

NOW, narrowing it down even more, a specific NGU Chapter is listed as it's own GROUP on its Local NGU site so that your spiritual community's NGU'ers can email only one another if desired, for their own events, or simply for each chapter to know who is who and who is a part of their local group. If there weren't GROUPS available on the local NGU sites, no one would know who was from where and they wouldn't be able to email those specific people in their own spiritual community separately.

Although GROUPS have their own URL LINK, they are NOT a separate site. GROUPS are simply a feature of the main site.

So, to be clear. There are only 2 sites that you need to join. Your LOCAL NGU site used for any and all LOCAL events and to connect on a local level, and the REGIONAL NGU site to stay updated with what's happening on the regional level (www.southcentralngu.com). If a LOCAL NGU site hasn't been created for you and you'd like one, let me know! Otherwise, feel free to join your state's GROUP on the regional site.

Now, what about other networking sites? As you'll notice, on the MAIN PAGE of the NGU SCUCA Regional site, I have a link to our facebook page. This is what I would suggest doing from all LOCAL NGU sites as well. Any networks (facebook, myspace, etc) can simply be linked from the main LOCAL NGU site.

The goal is to make the NGU site the HUB for everyone and everything!

HELPFUL HINTS:

Once you've created a username and password with NING, you NEVER have to create a new one for any NING network. You simply need to login as an existing user to any NING network and use the same username and password for them all. You will need to answer any required profile questions.

Once you are logged into NING, it should keep you logged in unless you specifically 'sign out'. This will save you time at least when you get emails about updates, links, comments, etc.

Hope this helps!