Social Networking

My friend has this idea to create a Facebook clone without all the **** applications. I know, the idea is kind of far fetched.

I'm wondering though what kind of coding is required to set something like this up. I'm talking about all the backend stuff. We're looking to hire someone to help us out, and I'd like to know what kind of languages I'll be looking for. Anyone have any ideas?

So you want to create what Facebook used to be about 4 years ago?

Pretty much.

php, mysql, css, and ajax coding is what you will need.

those are the main coding languages for something like that... java would also be good but AJAX kinda assumes you know java (since it is based off of it)

Sounds good.

Anyone know what a project like this would cost? I told my friend it would be a couple thousand dollars. He thinks we could find a college student to do it for cheap for the "practice".

How do you think myspace was created? I heard it was also for the "practice"

Exactly. All these websites had to start out small with an idea. I think I've got just as much of a chance as any other guy out there, or any other social networking site.

Well, they didn't have the others in front of them. There are so many of the damn sites out there now it's pathetic. I am on MySpace, not a lot, but that is the only one I use. A few others I can think of are Facebook, hi5, whereareyounow, just **** sites like that. No offense, but the last thing we need is another one

But if you guys got a plan and want to give it a whirl, don't let me stop you.

The_Mastor wrote:

last thing we need is another one

Agreed.... Kinda...

What we DON'T need is another myspace/facebook/friendster/WAYN clone


we need something new with the good things that all those sites had when they started, and a few extra features to keep them from turning into one of those sites mentioned above.

What would you like to see in a Social Networking site MX? What features don't Facebook/Myspace have that you would like? What don't you like?

I would like to integrate some of my interests, like photography, music, and video games. Maybe even a field to enter in your vehicle make and model. These wouldn't be required to fill in, but would enable you to locate others with similar interests. I'm not familiar with licensing but I would love to integrate Google Maps, Flickr, and Youtube somehow.

no need to reinvent the wheel.

i started brainstorming something similair, but lost interest, but just to get you started you can check out freeforums.org not somemuch like facebook, but you could run your own forum like oznium here, or any other php forum, 100% free, free hosting etc.. worth looking into to see how it takes off, then you can always pay for hosting elsewhere if you want..

your site would be yourname@freeforums.org but you can buy a cheap domain and link it to the site, yourname.org etc..

I can NOT stand facebook. With all the STUPID applications, it drives me nuts. Not to mention, I find it hard to navigate (adding a friend, finding a friend, realizing you have a new message, unable to view people who have poked you after you click the link, etc, etc, etc!)

I like what myspace as done for the most part.

I think a site with every car, every model, explainations of different options, etc etc, would be a lot more useful.

itzbjorn wrote:

I can NOT stand facebook. With all the STUPID applications, it drives me nuts. Not to mention, I find it hard to navigate (adding a friend, finding a friend, realizing you have a new message, unable to view people who have poked you after you click the link, etc, etc, etc!) I like what myspace as done for the most part.

agreed 100%

You mean like CarDomain.com?

itzbjorn wrote:

You mean like CarDomain.com?

no more like all OEM.

There's already a million alternatives out there. Not only would it take a TON of research, programming and marketing, but its going to cost a lot of money too. You will have to be a free place (no one is going to try a social network site that costs money when it has no members) so you have invent a business model. Are you going to plaster ads everywhere? Or will you do something annoying like Facebook beacon? After that, you will need to worry about servers. I'm sure Myspace and Facebook have an entire room of heavily optimized servers. Facebook has also contributed a significant amount to the open source community in the form of PHP caching. They have some serious software engineers working there; not just some college kids "practicing".

I wish facebook would clean up some of its mess, but I know its not going to happen. You can try other places:
Yahoo! 360
Windows Live Spaces
Orkut
LinkedIn
Twitter
Tribe.net
Bebo

I'm sure the list goes on and on.

Yeah, hosting is going to be a *****.

I'll worry about that last.

Myspace = Impossible to navigate to me.

I got dozens of crap adds everyday and weird ****.

I don't want to have to listen to crappy music someone is playing.

I don't want to have your whole album of photos on my screen.

Sadly the people with dozens of applications on facebook are normally myspace junkies or under 18 in my experience.

hosting can just start off with one computer thought as long as your not asking too much from its internet connection so the site crashes or lags

everything starts out small even Google Did an we all can see the out come of that one.

no one needs to put the guy down just help him out with market research like he's trying to do.
like the car make and model detail ness is a good idea different to alot of other sites.
you just need new ideas some can be crazy others might be simple but effective.

This is no dig at Tim, but its a little over his head. This thread is like saying "I really like the Ford Mustang, but the body style is ugly. How can I make my own car based on that engine, but sell it to other people?".

I've had the exact same thoughts myself, and I've done some of the research.

Yea tim you gotta start small with hosting, once the site grows and you have advertising, the ads will pay for the server and hosting...

Bluehost.com is what i use. it's a good start and for the price, the best you can get.

I do think the body style is ugly.