setting up a social networking site

ClonmelHills

How would you go about it? How would you check the names is not in use. Have a list of them from wikipedia but may not be exhaustive.? Can you use ads to fund it?

Thanks

PS No PM spam please

Joseph

Ehh uhh umm.. eh..

Don't bother unless you're a multi billionaire or Google.

staffhandbook

Deleted User wrote: »

Don't bother unless you're a multi billionaire or Google.

Or if you have a specific niche, this gets a lot of press http://www.dbtwang.com/ it's a social networking site for guitarists

OP you can use a "domain tool" to check if the .com/.ie name is available.
Yes you can use ad to fund it, that is how most make money.

Atlas_IRL

If you dont know the answers to your questions i take it you dont know much about e-commerce and how websites work, how are you going to take on facebook?
Unless it is a niche idea and you are an excellent programmer/have a load load of money, please dont think about trying to make one.

LauraOrlagh

Atlas_IRL wrote: »

If you dont know the answers to your questions i take it you dont know much about e-commerce and how websites work, how are you going to take on facebook?
Unless it is a niche idea and you are an excellent programmer/have a load load of money, please dont think about trying to make one.

I'd have to agree with Atlas on this one - I mean even Bebo which was the social networking site for a few years there has basically been kicked off its pedastal by Facebook and Twitter. Unless you really have an unbelievable niche and millions to make your idea work, I'm afraid you'd be wasting your money. Sorry to be pessimistic but I don't want to see anyone waste their money!

fishy21

with approxmately 900 social net sites launched every day in 2008 i can only agree with the above. Stay well away.

Then again weedle have secured 3 million of an investment from u.s investors.

Axwell

Weedle also have an experienced business man running them who has proven success before. Even at that they will have to pump a lot of money into it and hope they can get some of the market as they are creating social networking but aimed at people providing skills as their niche.

Bebo didnt last because it never took off in the states, the lack of take up there killed it off more so than facebook or twitter.

For you to create anything that would even compete with whats out there now would require massive amounts of money, a niche or something to make you different and to able to become global which again reverts back to requirement one, vast amounts of money.

If you want to setup something small in Ireland as a sort of project or small niche/hobby style site then there are numerous scripts etc that can be implemented by a web developer to give you that type of functionality. But if you are talking about trying it on a big scale forget about it really.

padocon

ClonmelHills wrote: »

How would you go about it? How would you check the names is not in use. Have a list of them from wikipedia but may not be exhaustive.? Can you use ads to fund it?

Thanks

PS No PM spam please

Are you a web designer?

rolion

-Get your idea about the market segment the site might be addressing to;
-get a name that reflects or suggests the site;
-get an Irish / .ie domain site,check various ISPs that provides .ie domains and hosting packages,pickup a local ISP.
-search online for a web template that fits your interest or buy vBulletin Suite,that does all for you;
-promote your site with Google Click Ads or a local newspaper or online or word-of-mouth or leaflets or...whatever suits your budget and location.
-keep an eye on feedback/user comments/traffic and the management of the site.

Enjoy it...

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

If you don't know how to look up if the site name is free, well, its unlikely you have the internet knowledge to succeed. Sorry to sound harsh, I'd suggest look for a partner with the necessary skills.

Also you need to keep in mind how many millions twitter are loosing, social networks by their nature aren't big money earners untill you've spent millions to get them to a facebook position. Also you'd really need a good USP, Its extremely difficult to get customers to sign up. Most people who use social media already have a facebook, buzz, linkedin and twitter. Keeping track of them is hard enough so you'd need to give a really good benefit get people to sign up. Simply put - a me too business model cannot work.

91011

Deleted User wrote: »

Don't bother unless you're a multi billionaire or Google.

AOL will sell you Bebo for free:D

beya2009

Niche is the only way to go in my opinion. For Bebo to struggle in recent times is beyond me but highlights the dominance of Facebook in particular. Facebook has reached a proliferation stage; its for that reason that by my knowledge sometime in June they will start charging users a small annual fee in the region of around €4 to keep using it.

91011

beya2009 wrote: »

Facebook has reached a proliferation stage; its for that reason that by my knowledge sometime in June they will start charging users a small annual fee in the region of around €4 to keep using it.

This is the biggest online myth for a long time.

Facebook wil NEVER charge for use of their social site - they will charge for extras such as certain games, but the standard facebook social site will always be totally 100% free - if they were to charge, most advertisers would drop them overnight as so many people would stop using them - their advertising revenues are curently running in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

staffhandbook

beya2009 wrote: »

Nits for that reason that by my knowledge sometime in June they will start charging users a small annual fee in the region of around €4 to keep using it.

that's an internet rumor/hoax.
But it would be a nice earner if they did 400m users

400m X 4 = 1.6 billion per year

- 5% fees to collect the money (staff/IT/banking)
- 25% people who won't pay and leave

They'd still make over a billion a year for no real extra work.

91011 wrote: »

if they were to charge, most advertisers would drop them overnight as so many people would stop using them

They could actually increase their advertising revenues. As paid for sites usually command a higher advertising rate that free site. The idea behind it is if the users are paying, they will value the site and it's content more, so have more interest in the ads. Plus if they can spend on subscriptions they have money to spend, so a more attractive audience.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

beya2009 wrote: »

by my knowledge sometime in June they will start charging users a small annual fee in the region of around €4 to keep using it.

Lol, I think that was announced on April fools :rolleyes:. Facebook make money by companies placing very targeted ads on their site in the same business model as Google.

beya2009

lol oh ok:L:L I always had my suspicions about that.

Korvanica

staffhandbook wrote: »

- 25% people who won't pay and leave

Id say a lot more than that would leave...

Pixelcraft

beya2009 wrote: »

they will start charging users a small annual fee in the region of around €4 to keep using it.

Nonsense, that was what killed the site that facebook became. You can't change the terms people sign up to, unless you want to drive them elsewhere

Neuro Energetic Kinesiology

check out register365.com:D