As Glam Media Waits for Its IPO Moment, a New App Hints at Its Pitch

Glam’s latest round values the company at close to $1 billion. A new app strategy is supposed to help it get bigger, soon.
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Ning Gets Glammed Up With Sitewide Update

It’s like “Facebook in a box,” complete with ad tech solution.

Levo League Wants to Help You Find a Job — If You’re a Gen-Y Woman (Video)

There are plenty of places on the Web to network, job-hunt and look for career advice. Caroline Ghosn and Amanda Pouchot explain why their new site is different.

Gling? Glam Buys Ning for $200 Million, Mostly in Stock

Ning, which AllThingsD had reported was on the block earlier this summer, has been sold.
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Exclusive: Ning Is Being Shopped Around at $150M Price Tag

Ning — the high-profile social networking platform co-founded by Silicon Valley investor and icon Marc Andreessen — is for sale, said sources.

News Byte

Ning Customers Can Now Defray Costs by Charging Members for Access

Ning, the social network creator, turned off its ad-supported version and went all-premium last year (plans cost $3 to $50 per month). Now, it is helping its customers recoup their costs by charging their members as well. Starting today, the company will offer four paid access tools: Membership fees, paid groups, premium content and donations.

Voices

Mobile App Talent Pool Is Shallow

This year, magazine publisher Hearst Corp. intends to add five software engineers to its mobile development staff. Social-networking company Ning Inc. plans to nearly double its mobile development team. And Web start-up Where Inc. is on track to double its mobile staff this year after quadrupling it in 2010.

Video: Ning's Andreessen and Rosenthal Talk About New Social Chat Service Mogwee

Yes, it’s actually called Mogwee, which was the codename for the new mobile social communications service being launched tonight by Ning, the high-profile social networking platform. Part Twitter, part SMS, part Path and any number of such social start-ups, Mogwee actually stands for “more great weekends.” Here is a video with Ning CEO Jason Rosenthal and Chairman Marc Andreessen talking Mogwee.

I'm With the Band: Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda Talks About Online Fan Collaboration Contest

It’s nice to hear enthusiasm on the part of Linkin Park band member Mike Shinoda about an innovative-for-the-music-industry effort to give fans a chance to be part of the iconic Grammy-winning rock band. While some artists or content creators cringe at the ongoing flood of user-generated material that has drastically changed the industry, Shinoda is hoping to find some real talent via a new online contest, called “Linkin Park, Featuring You,” that gives anyone an opportunity to collaborate with the band to produce an original song based on some of the tracks from the forthcoming single “The Catalyst.”

The Profits Will Come Out Tomorrow? Ning CEO Rosenthal Talks About Premium Changeover

Last week, BoomTown moseyed on down to the Palo Alto, Calif. HQ of Ning–the high-profile social networking platform co-founded by Silicon Valley icon Marc Andreessen–to talk to CEO Jason Rosenthal about a dramatic shift in the start-up’s business plan tomorrow. As in, go all-premium, trying to find a way to turn the start-up–which has raised $120 million in venture funding since its late 2004 founding–into a profitable enterprise. Translation for Web 2.0: Profits are when you make more money than you spend.

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