Some Elgg powered sites

It is always great to see people picking up Elgg and applying it to their own niche. The fascinating thing about online communities is the diversity, everyone has something different they are into and software like Elgg can help those groups create a vibrant online community.

Elgg 1.5 has been downloaded tens of thousands of times over the past three weeks, since release. With new networks springing up every day, here are a small sample.

Random:

• Classicrods - for classic car enthusiasts.
• Hapas - a community to share your individual stories about the multiracial Asian experience through words, pictures, videos, and collaboration.
• RailRefund - a space for disgruntled commuters.
• The Lab - a network for models and clients.
• Skydiving - a site for German skydivers.
• pbop.de - another German network, not really sure what it is about but it looks fun.
• MaestroZone - connect and share with other musicians in the world.
• theatregig - a free online community that connects theatre people in community, regional, academic and professional theatre – worldwide.
• Chukkest - is the exclusive online social network designed for those who love Polo ponies.

Education:

• c41pt.net - a Social Learning Network for Learning Professionals to discuss the use of social media and social learning.
• uTicked - social bookmarking for teachers.
• Université de Montréal - a Université de Montréal network.
• CMUOnet - a fully functional social networking system, connecting CMUO learners and creating communities of learning.

Professional:

• UnionBook - the social networking site for trade unionists.
• Tickerheads - a space for traders.
• Hedgehogs - the space for the hedge fund & investment community.
• International Process and Performance Institute - learn more about how we help organizations reduces their costs, increase their customer satisfaction, and improve their bottom line.

One of the fastest growing areas of Elgg adoption is for company Intranets, to help improve internal communication. As most are behind a firewall, there are no links to those networks. This is a space I think we are going to see expand over the coming year and for which Elgg is well positioned to make inroads. There are options such as SocialText, Jive and Yammer in the space already, however, Elgg brings a rich set of features to the mix and a growing open source community, making it an attractive option.