Thread: anyone run a social network?

just wanted to see if anyone here actually runs a social network? i currently have 3....one is a little over 1.5 years old (8500+ members), another is 1 year old (2300+ members), and the other just started.

all are very niche specific.

so anyone else have their own social networks?

yes i have one related to medical students.runs on phpfox.

yeah, i use phpfox as well....2 sites are on v1.1 and the newest i did on v1.5.1

mine site is not doing so well cause i don't have much time ,i'm just planning to joint venture with other sites now.

I run a live pligg site over @ Blog Engage / Published Blogs and it's going great! I sure wish I had more php experience tho! I would like to work out some kinks!

not really - well yah u can but you have no change of success because it a strong market and using 3rd-party software isnt cool.

Originally Posted by Wunir

and using 3rd-party software isnt cool.

Why not?

because... its not unique

Originally Posted by Wunir

because... its not unique

thats like saying dont use vbulletin cause its not unique.

OK vb is a social network in a way but its still a forum not a social network site like myspace or facebook - i doubt anyone would use them anyway

You can edit/tweak an out of the box script and make it 'unique'

Many like 'unique' scripts as they know their way around them. Just like many prefer joining forums built off of VB

Originally Posted by Wunir

OK vb is a social network in a way but its still a forum not a social network site like myspace or facebook - i doubt anyone would use them anyway

there are a lot of social networks that use phpfox and buddyzone. They are doing really great with traffic an promotion. It all depends on the people behind the project.

Ok say you get unique script and you do the entire fancy pansy, you real think anyone can run a social service? With MySpace, FaceBook you have not a single change of getting 1000 + users because this game is for the big boys.
I mean not putting anyone down – if you soul believe you can do it then kudos to you my friend.

Wunir added 1 Minutes and 31 Seconds later...

Originally Posted by Gasmoney

there are a lot of social networks that use phpfox and buddyzone. They are doing really great with traffic an promotion. It all depends on the people behind the project.

Yeah they are not on the social level they are on the community level - they themselves around a subject.
ps: what i just said i made up - because i have yet to see one - please give me an example i will see.

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Ok you made your point
but are we looking at sites with 7 member mostly the admins friends or are we look at social network, hence network. Its 4am i feel all weird i will make a better point 2mor

not sure what you are trying to say.....will a 3rd party script based site take over myspace? probably not. but there is no reason that niche specific sites can't thrive with large member bases...it's all about marketing towards a niche that has a need for a social network.

i myself have 2 sites with well over 8,500 members and the other with over 2,000. plus i have vbulletin integrated into my largest site, so my members get the best of both worlds

Originally Posted by seoZING

not sure what you are trying to say.....will a 3rd party script based site take over myspace? probably not. but there is no reason that niche specific sites can't thrive with large member bases...it's all about marketing towards a niche that has a need for a social network.

i myself have 2 sites with well over 8,500 members and the other with over 2,000. plus i have vbulletin integrated into my largest site, so my members get the best of both worlds

exactly what i wanted to say.

yes, I have my own social network community - aadhunik.com - using joomla community builder.

Yeah I run a pageant community and a new social webmasters community for webmasters running social networks. Both PHPFox.

Originally Posted by GRIM

You can edit/tweak an out of the box script and make it 'unique'

Many like 'unique' scripts as they know their way around them. Just like many prefer joining forums built off of VB

So do you think overal making a new social network can make you prosper? Or just waste your time??

So do you think overal making a new social network can make you prosper? Or just waste your time??

Yes, it can be done - with effort, time, a unique design, modifications, and a proper roadmap for success. I'm the developer of www.uberfriends.net, and it's just a "general" social networking site that I've recently launched. I've spent countless hours designing and integrating the layout into the software, however I now have ZERO time to market it due to my main business, which is why I'm selling it. I hate to see it go, but I'd rather see it in the hands of someone who actually has the time to promote it.

Originally Posted by tjsocr1

So do you think overal making a new social network can make you prosper? Or just waste your time??

Depends on what you want the site to do, I have a free military and supporters site, phpfox, thats niche is 'real' people so no false profiles, every person has to have a pic up and as most ppl who are on military sites are on a lot of them, we find out who they are.

There is a site that has paying members and hes making a small fortune off them. Virtually exactly the same sort of site. Another of my new sites is birds and I make money off both sites thru selling tshirts etc.

My newest one is a phpnuke, thats just being made now so not too sure where I will go with it at the moment.

You can make money, it all depends on how much you want to make, and what your niche is. Thats the most important thing. Finding a market that is untapped. My 2 cents worth anyways....

I'm thinking about opening a social networking site that would be part of the Snoork network, but I'm still undecided about that.

Just have a look around at different networking sites or decide exactly what sort of site that you want, also there are also heaps of network sites for sale. Thats what I did, found what I was looking for, joined the makers forum and made a few friends, who you can talk to about behind the scenes work.

But I was really lucky as my site even tho its tiny I have a network of larger sites that we do swaps with ips and ppl to watch out for.

There is a lot of work to do on them, but I love it.

You could incorporate your games site into it, still have the free games and its linked to your networking site

Originally Posted by aadhunik

yes, I have my own social network community - aadhunik.com - using joomla community builder.

look nice, i really like your site.

jonas18 added 4 Minutes and 49 Seconds later...

Originally Posted by xcentricnet

Yes, it can be done - with effort, time, a unique design, modifications, and a proper roadmap for success. I'm the developer of uberfriends.net and it's just a "general" social networking site that I've recently launched. I've spent countless hours designing and integrating the layout into the software, however I now have ZERO time to market it due to my main business, which is why I'm selling it. I hate to see it go, but I'd rather see it in the hands of someone who actually has the time to promote it.

how much you want for it

no, I don't run anytype of social network. I thought of planning to run it very soon.

Yes, I have one web design related..

When I worked for a newspaper last year, they wanted a local social networking site. I tried Joomla with Community Builder first, then Dolphin, People Aggregator, PHPizabi, and several other self-hosted platforms. None of them really had all the features I wanted. Then corporate said they wanted us to use Kick Apps, which seemed overpriced to me at $1500 or so a month. I searched around and discovered Ning, which did the same thing as Kickapps for about $20 a month. I've since built several sites on Ning, including downtowncomics.com.

Originally Posted by RyanFormspring

When I worked for a newspaper last year, they wanted a local social networking site. I tried Joomla with Community Builder first, then Dolphin, People Aggregator, PHPizabi, and several other self-hosted platforms. None of them really had all the features I wanted. Then corporate said they wanted us to use Kick Apps, which seemed overpriced to me at $1500 or so a month. I searched around and discovered Ning, which did the same thing as Kickapps for about $20 a month. I've since built several sites on Ning, including downtowncomics.com.

Nice site man I underestimated ning!

Just started to partner with someone to start up a "social network"! Full of questions and glad I found this thread!

Originally Posted by Rhiannon

You can make money, it all depends on how much you want to make, and what your niche is. Thats the most important thing. Finding a market that is untapped. My 2 cents worth anyways....

Sure would like to hear more? Revenue Sharing?

Originally Posted by Rhiannon

joined the makers forum and made a few friends, who you can talk to about behind the scenes work.

Any forum in particular? Or PM me a "link" !

Seems like its a risk you have to take. Social networking sites worked for the founders of facebook and myspace. If your site meets some need that's out there and you execute perfectly, then, it won't be a waste of your time.