Starting a Social Site

[DnEbook]

I wonder if anyone here has started their own social site?
How did it go ..... is it still going?
What's the best software to buy
Is your social platform mobile?
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Was it worth the time and trouble ?
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I looked at one and it had a facebook login ....... kind of defeats the purpose of starting your own i thought

 

[Rado_Ch]

I have not had personal experiences with such websites, but as a member of a webhosting company I have had encounters with quite some customers starting such projects.

Choosing a software is something tricky. While most can run on a shared environment for starters you would have to heavily cut off their functionality to do so, so starting with a VPS is often a better solution. Also, having a knowledgeable developer to custom code your website might be better instead of using a premade software as this way you can tailor it upon your requirements. But should you want to start with something premade Oxwall and Dolphin by Boonex are some of the often preferred solutions.

Is it worth the time and trouble? Now that is a good question that many fail to ask before they start and can lead to their failure. Don't fall into the trap of thinking how you can create a Facebook competitor, nor should you expect such popularity for a long-long time. Instead you should be thinking of how to deliver something unique, something innovative that will be associated with your brand. If you can't offer something new, or at least something that tackles most known problems with existing social networks then its better to leave that idea alone. Going deep in a specific niche is something good for starters, especially if its something you are familiar too and can do with passion (e.g. social network for pet lovers or extreme sports fans).

The above should explain why seeing a social network with a Facebook login is not so illogical. If you start with the idea of tackling the big guys you are bound to fail. And as most already have Facebook accounts, offering an easy login to your network for their users is something that will just improve the user experience and convince them to even try it out (no time involved in registrations, confirmations etc.).

Hope that helps

 

[DnEbook]

Many thanks for your observations and opinions, not sure about wishing to take on the bigs boys, i just felt the facebook logon detracted a little from an original identity and brand, cheers !

 

[Tia Wood]

Social sites are one of the hardest type of sites to drive traffic and establish some sort of following. With so many popular ones that have the social aspect covered you are basically competing with Facebook, Twitter, etc and users typically don't see a point signing up at lessor known sites when that's basically already well covered and none of their 'friends' go to that particular site.

The only times I've seen my clients succeed at a social site is when some other element was mixed in and the social networking aspect only played a smaller part, not a main part and/or surrounded a niche.

 

[DnEbook]

yes it does seem a chicken and the egg situation, i do agree there would have to be an element that ties everyone together under a certain niche