How to make a semblance of a social network yourself. How to create a new social network

Among the huge number of entertainment sites and pages that you can come across on the Internet, social networks occupy a special place. They represent special services for the provision of services related to the emergence, maintenance and reflection of relationships between users. Services are provided on a single platform where participants can create their accounts, create a list of contacts, conduct correspondence and exchange media content with other users.

How to create your own social network?

The most popular social networks are Facebook (in the international arena), Odnoklassniki and VKontakte (in the CIS). Despite the fierce competition in this industry, Lately You can increasingly hear the question of how to create social network? Finding the reasons for such interest in social networks is not difficult, because the successes of the creator of Facebook are still legendary. And domestic analogues of such platforms are not poor.

The stunning success of the projects launched in 2003-2004 haunts active youth hungry for wealth. There are several key points, which you should pay attention to before creating a social network. In order to most effectively implement an idea, you need to divide your work into several stages. By gradually moving through each stage, you will be able to make the most efficient use of your capabilities and create a thoughtful and attractive product.

Come up with concept

Since it is very difficult to create a social network that will attract the attention of any Internet visitor, and this process is very expensive in terms of allocated time, effort and financial resources, it is better to think from the very beginning about creating a specialized website designed for a specific circle of users. This is exactly how such giants as Facebook and Odnoklassniki, which were designed for students and young people, were born. Therefore, when determining the concept and idea of a site, first of all you need to understand that the pursuit of meeting the needs of all network users will lead to the inevitable collapse of the project.

Take time to come up with different ideas, define and write down on paper what you want your social community, show your imagination and decide in advance what you want to get in the end. Think over your site in your imagination, reproduce it down to the smallest pixel, because only such planning will help you complete your work.

Remember that sites are written for people, and the more there are, the more opinions and preferences there are. During the planning stage, identify your target user group. You can create a community based on interests, professions, geography, or some other reason, the main thing is to unite a group of people who will communicate with each other with interest. A certain theme of a social network will give uniqueness to your brainchild and allow you to conquer your niche, because you will agree that it is not possible to compete with universal sites at the present time and in conditions of limited labor and financial resources.

Choice engine

After you decide on the content of the site, the stage of its technical development. To write a website on our own It’s better to use free engines, the range of which is very wide on the market. Such engines provide an extensive set of tools, using which you can easily create a very good and functional website.

Joomla

It is difficult to say exactly how much it costs to create a social network. But if you have experience in this or are quite advanced in the field of programming, then Joomla can become ideal solution at free creation social network. Huge selection built-in tools, along with third-party add-ons and gadgets, will make it possible to create a website of any complexity, limited only by your imagination.

Google Friend Connect

An ideal tool for a beginner, providing the ability to integrate social network functions into any existing website or forum. This engine, developed by Google, will help you create a social network even if you have no programming experience. But still, basic computer knowledge will be needed, since it is not possible to create your own social network without it.

In order to use this service, you need to first create a website on free hosting. After entering the URL of your site, you will be able to integrate it with the functionality of the Google service.

LiveStreet

This free engine can also provide you excellent functionality and additional extensions. Users of the social network can freely exchange media files, participate in surveys and even create their own blogs within the social network. Additional extensions, among which there are many free options, will give you the opportunity to create a unique website that will be attractive to both young people and older people.

Ucoz

An absolutely free engine that will give you, unlike all previous ones, the opportunity to use hosting for free and domain name. This engine can be an ideal solution for beginners, since even a schoolchild can create his own social network on it. Along with this advantage, in Ucoz you will be able to use great amount templates and settings, which will allow you to quickly and efficiently create your website. Subsequently, if your project proves itself, you can transfer it to more stable hosting and give your project a unique domain name.

As you can see, creating a social network for free and from scratch is quite possible. It all depends solely on your persistence and seriousness. Once you've defined the concepts and chosen the engine, you'll need to spend a lot of time technically and creative process. Be patient, as it will not be possible to quickly create a social network that is qualitatively different from existing ones.

And it is gaining significant momentum.

American magazines are full of headlines about social networks; the term “social networks” can always be found in articles such as “10 Most In-Demand Business Models of 2012,” “10 Things that will interest people in 2012,” etc. If there is demand, then it is necessary to provide supply.

Creating your own social network, in principle, is no longer difficult. There are a huge number of proposals on this matter on the Internet, everything is thought out to the smallest detail and Russified. You can use free engines, relatively free and paid ones, in any case, you need to take a closer look - evaluate the interface and functionality, suitable for you and get down to business creating a social network.

If you are the administrator of a decent group on VKontakte or Odnoklassniki, try to make money on it now using the exchange social traffic, more details. I wrote about how to get traffic from VKontakte in my article -.

BuddyPress

Elgg

Not a bad engine. Free. Russified and many communities have been created to support and develop the project. A good alternative to Buddypress. The engine will definitely have a significant number of fans.
Website: elgg.com

Socialengine- the most “social” engine for social networks. Recently released new version SocialEngine 4.0. The engine is paid - $250 for version with open source. Today, there is no competitor in terms of the sophistication of the social network engine. Plugins must be purchased, one plugin costs approximately $40. Has Russian support in Runet. The engine has completed big breakthrough compared to version 3.0.

If you decide to create a social network on this engine, then know that you have a 30-day period to try the engine, in other words, a 30-days Trial. This means that you can install the product and use it for free for 30 days, and then decide whether to continue using it.

Ning

Ning is one of the pioneers. By the number of users, the most large network. It’s possible to create your own network in 5 minutes. Very user-friendly interface for administration. Previously free, it now offers different packages from $2.95 to $49.95 per month for using the engine. I recommend this engine if you have a small budget for promotion.
Website – ning.com

Jomsocial

Jomsocial is for Joomla, much like BuddyPress is for WordPress. One downside is that you have to pay a minimum of $99. If your blog or website is installed on Joomla, then this is the most suitable for you. best option. Despite the fact that its cost ranges from $99 to $499, the engine is very well thought out and has a significant amount of functionality.

Phpfox

You want to know, how to create a social network? Like any website, it requires the use of the right software, thoughtful planning and implementation. Today I am going to help you and explain how to create a social network.

Explain your idea and concept

Before you get started, you need to make sure that your idea is worth something. Ask yourself some questions to understand what this idea involves.

What niche am I going to occupy?

This is the most important question, which you should ask yourself before creating a social network. Trying to implement something like Facebook will not succeed. But perhaps there is a specific niche that you are passionate about filling and that could bring benefits:

I'm assuming you already have an idea, but it's important to make sure your expectations are realistic. Don't expect your resource to easily become the next Facebook or My Space.

Make sure you have a clear idea of the niche or specific topic for your social network. Maybe it will be for musicians or animal lovers.

Are there any social networks that already fill your niche?

As with anyone good business, it is important to do your research and find out who you will be competing with. Are there already social networks that fill the niche you are looking to fill? If so, what are they doing right? What would you do better?

Before you create a social network, take notes about what you like and don't like. This way you'll know what you need to do to get an edge.

What services or features do I want to offer my audience?

This is partly explained in the question above, but I want to make sure you actually think about it seriously. What are you going to offer your audience that will make them want to be a part of your community?

If you're thinking about how to build a social network from scratch for animal lovers, you might consider partnering with pet supply companies to offer some kind of discount to your audience. Or perhaps you'll offer specialized services, such as pet training or videos on the topic.

Think carefully and make sure that the solution you choose will be of interest to your audience.

How much do I want to spend?

It is clear that everyone's goal is to spend less money to get more. high income, but this is not always realistic. Social networks (like any website) require financial investments. They can range from several hundred to several thousand dollars. Think about how much you are willing to invest to get things rolling.

For those who don't know where to start, here are some typical website costs, ( Please note that these are conservative estimates.).

Hosting

This only applies if you decide to use the purchased software, which will require its installation on its own site. You will most likely want to launch a new website on VPS hosting to gain additional control.

Of course, there are cheaper options, but future package updates may cause glitches. I would recommend starting with a VPS, but you can choose whatever option suits you best. Cost – $30 – 100.

Social Network Software

Before you create a social network yourself, you need to select the appropriate software. This can be ready-made software that includes almost everything you might need. Or online designers that offer many options. Typically this is the best choice, as they eliminate the huge costs associated with creating a resource from scratch. Cost – from $99.

Individual design

Perhaps after studying the market you will find that existing software products do not meet your requirements, and therefore decide to create your own CMS for a social network. Don't expect to get anything that works reasonably well for less than a few thousand dollars. Filling with content, typical design and development of a blog for a good social network costs about $3,000 – $6,000.

Promotion

You will need to purchase your own domain. I recommend checking out the likes of Upwork.com and Fiverr.com for low-cost promotion options. Cost – from $100.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Search Engine Optimization is critical to getting traffic to your website. But there are too many scammers in this field, and you can spend thousands of dollars trying to find someone with the right skills. Therefore, it is more profitable to invest in your own knowledge. Cost - $300 per month through SEO Book or more than a thousand through other SEO companies.

Do I want to do the work myself or will someone do it for me? Who will carry it out?

What is the expected load? How many people can potentially visit the social network being created? This is important in order to choose the right software.

Of course, there are still questions about what it takes to create a social network. But these are the main ones. I would recommend briefly jotting down your answers.

Use existing software or create your own?

The next step is to research what options ready-made solutions are present on the market. There are many options: place it yourself ( you will be responsible for raising the website and maintaining it in good condition) or placement with a service provider ( you pay subscription fee, and they monitor the site).

To make a decision, it is important to understand whether there is available options that suit your needs or whether you need to consider developing a website from scratch. Keep in mind that custom development is expensive, so make sure you discount all available options before going down this route.

Let's look at some available solutions. This will allow you to understand how much it costs to create a social network.

PHPFox

PHPFox has been around for years and is one of the least expensive options. There will always be people who complain about every product released, but the fact remains that there are a lot of cool social networks running on PHPFox.

The cost is reasonable, the investment has dropped quite a bit since the main company rebranded to Moxi9 and now you can purchase PHPfox for just $99:

I believe that making a smart investment saves you from having to do everything yourself. For less than a hundred dollars, you get the basics to get started, and if your site does well, you can consider other options. Such as creating a template for a custom social network. But after you start making profit from the social network.

You should not discount such options, since they can quickly solve the problem with minimal investment. You don't want to spend thousands of dollars only to find out your idea flops, so start by minimizing costs and keeping costs low.

Social Engine

Social Engine is considered one of best platforms to create a social network along with PHPFox. Their offerings include cloud version (you can use their product on your servers without having to self-installation ), which will cost you $29 per month. And also a version of the CMS, which will be entirely yours, and will cost $299:

Personally, I think the cloud solution is a little better since you don't have to deal with hosting setup. The downside is that you lose the opportunity self-configuration and do not fully own the product. Either way, the SE is a great option to consider.

Dolphin Smart Community Builder

The platform offers a lot of functionality at a reasonable price. Although it will cost you more than PHPFox, you may find that all solutions better suit your needs:

How much does it cost to create a social network: Dolphin prices range from $399 to $799. It's certainly more expensive than most options, but it's much cheaper than developing from scratch. So don't discount this fact.

Evoq Social

If the social network you want to create is more business style, then you should definitely look at Evoq Social. This decision from DNN Software will help you create a truly amazing social network.

Oxwall

Oxwall is big project with open source code, which you can get for free. You can try out the free demo on the Oxwall website to see if it suits your needs:

What's next?

At this point you have the concept and software. Make sure to take advantage of the many communities available to get help with any questions you may have. Places like Stack Overflow, Quora, and others can be invaluable resources when you get stuck or need help.

If you need a developer, use sites like Upwork.com, Freelancer or Guru to find a developer at a reasonable price.

Yes, some may find this topic funny. Today there are so many social networks, how can we compete with them? But just think, what would have happened if millionaire Pavel Durov had thought in the same way? What would happen if he thought: “Why should I create a social network? After all, there are already projects such as Facebook and Odnoklassniki!” Then, perhaps, our website would not exist, your VKontakte pages would not exist, and Pavel Durov would have so much money. Therefore, if you think that some of the niches are still at least a little free, feel free to implement your ideas!

However, you should warn us right away: it is impossible to create your own social network for free. You will still need money! However, if the idea is worth it, then the project will definitely pay off. The main thing is to be patient and enthusiastic.

Step one: idea

First you need an idea. The very first step is the most important step.

If you have good idea, consider that 50% of the work has already been done. Think about how exactly your social network will differ from existing ones? What will be the “trick” in it? How will it attract users? What will be in it that will force people to tell their friends about this social network? Keep in mind that there are many similar sites today. There are even more of them than you might think (check out). Your social network should be radically different. Only then will it attract users. Also take care of the appropriate name for your web project.

Think about what the target audience will match your site and how to attract this audience. How to create a new social network from a technical point of view?

Step two: technical aspect

Of course, to create your own social network, you will need some knowledge and skills. You should choose the platform on which your social network will be located. The most popular are:

Joomla. You can create a social network on Joomla. The functionality of this professional CMS is enough to create a social network. Another advantage is that this CMS is free and you can simply download it on the Internet, and then customize it at your own discretion. Approximately one month of study and you already own this platform.
Social Engine can be considered a leader in this area. And this is clear from the name. Many add-ons for this platform are paid, so be prepared to shell out a little.
Drupal - in principle, this engine is similar to Joomla. But, a little harder to learn. If something goes wrong and some error occurs, it will take a long and tedious time to figure it out.

Step Three: Implementation

The fourth step is the actual development of your web resource. Take a piece of paper and make some sketches and notes:

The design of your social network: color, fonts, overall design, and so on;
How user pages and social network functions will be displayed: will there be avatars, albums, music, and so on;
Think about what privacy settings users will have and how their privacy will be protected. personal information;
Develop rules and conditions for using the social network.

You can create a social network yourself or contact specialists, drawing up a detailed task for them.

Step four: promotion

When the social network is created and open, you should start promoting it. This is necessary, because otherwise, users will not come to you. Promotion must be competent, professional and will be costly. So be prepared for this. If you wanted to create your own social network for free, and then not pay money for its promotion, but only earn millions, then we hasten to disappoint you: this is impossible.

Among the huge number of entertainment sites and pages that you can come across on the Internet, social networks occupy a special place. They are special services for the provision of services related to the emergence, maintenance and reflection of relationships between users. Services are provided on a single platform where participants can create their accounts, create a list of contacts, conduct correspondence and exchange media content with other users.

How to create your own social network?

The most popular social networks are Facebook (in the international arena), Odnoklassniki and VKontakte (in the CIS). Despite the fierce competition in this industry, recently you can increasingly hear the question of how to create a social network? Finding the reasons for such interest in social networks is not difficult, because the successes of the creator of Facebook are still legendary. And domestic analogues of such platforms are not poor.

The stunning success of the projects launched in 2003-2004 haunts active youth hungry for wealth. There are several key points to consider before creating a social network. In order to most effectively implement an idea, you need to divide your work into several stages. By gradually moving through each stage, you will be able to make the most efficient use of your capabilities and create a thoughtful and attractive product.

Come up with concept

Take time to come up with different ideas, define and write down on paper what you want your social community to look like, use your imagination and decide in advance what you want to get in the end. Think over your site in your imagination, reproduce it down to the smallest pixel, because only such planning will help you complete your work.

Choice engine

After you decide on the content of the site, the stage of its technical development begins. To write a website on your own, it is better to use free engines, the range of which is very wide on the market. Such engines provide an extensive set of tools, using which you can easily create a very good and functional website.

Joomla

It is difficult to say exactly how much it costs to create a social network. But if you have experience in this or are quite advanced in the field of programming, then Joomla can be an ideal solution for creating a social network for free. A huge selection of built-in tools, along with third-party add-ons and gadgets, will make it possible to create a website of any complexity, limited only by your imagination.

Google Friend Connect

An ideal tool for a beginner, providing the ability to integrate social network functions into any existing website or forum. This engine, developed by Google, will help you create a social network, even if you have no programming experience. But still, basic computer knowledge will be needed, since it is not possible to create your own social network without it.

In order to use this service, you need to first create a website on free hosting. After entering the URL of your site, you will be able to integrate it with the functionality of the Google service.

LiveStreet

This free engine can also provide you with great functionality and additional extensions. Users of the social network can freely exchange media files, participate in surveys and even create their own blogs within the social network. Additional extensions, including many free options, will give you the opportunity to create a unique site that will be attractive to both young and older people.

Ucoz

An absolutely free engine that will give you, unlike all previous ones, the opportunity to use hosting and a domain name for free. This engine can be an ideal solution for beginners, since even a schoolchild can create his own social network on it. Along with this advantage, in Ucoz you can use a huge number of templates and settings, which will allow you to quickly and efficiently create your website. Subsequently, if your project proves itself, you can transfer it to more stable hosting and give your project a unique domain name.

As you can see, creating a social network for free and from scratch is quite possible. It all depends solely on your persistence and seriousness. Once you've defined your concepts and chosen your engine, you'll need to spend a lot of time on the technical and creative process. Be patient, as it will not be possible to quickly create a social network that is qualitatively different from existing ones.