New features will give Ning its turn at the altar

Since its beta launch in 2005, social network-building platform Ning has been a beautiful bridesmaid, but never a bride. The site offers a terrific way for people to create a social network around a particular interest or hobby, but has suffered from a lack of useful tools and a rather bland choice of templates. While the site may have 1 million user-generated networks, many have little traffic or have been abandoned all together. Now Ning plans to offer a host of new apps and features that will make the idea of building a unique social network a whole lot more attractive.

Techcrunch is reporting today the upcoming launch of Ning Apps that will include 90 new modules for network creators to add to their sites. Options include e-commerce and collaboration apps like Shopit and Google Docs, and also new ways to integrate real-time communication tools like Ustream and Twitter Tracker. Ning is even reaching out to philanthropic-minded folks with apps that help with donation collection and fundraising.

Now that social networking seems to be infiltrating every corner of our lives, it's common to hear people conjecture about what they would do if they ran Facebook or LinkedIn. Ning Apps will let people put their money where their mouth is, and create the network of their dreams.

For entrepreneurs, the days of one-directional Web sites are over and it's all about establishing an ongoing dialogue and community around your product or service. It's easy to predict a stampede to Ning and the likelihood that a zillion more niche networks are about to crop up around the Internet.  

From what I can tell, it looks like the addition of Ning Apps will make it dead-simple to create interactive sites where people with common interests will congregate, rather than the "jump in a crowded pool" approach of today's popular social sites. The only trick will be getting people to sign up for Yet Another Networking Site -- a common complaint among visitors to many existing Ning networks.

Mashable has an in-depth look at what Ning Apps will offer during it's private beta roll-out. Check out the list and let me know what you think looks exciting, or what's still missing.