Ning, the network of social networks that boasted 20 million visitors a month, is making massive staff cutbacks and has announced a complete end to free services for its users. Those who pay for premium services will be asked to pay more, and those who are getting their social networks free of charge will be asked to fork over or phase off the Ning platform.

I think WordPress is going to fill a huge gap here. With BuddyPress and the new Multi-site functionality in the upcoming WP 3.0 version, people are going to flock to these solutions.