Do you believe that there is still a market for social networking sites? If you do a search on Google you can literally find hundreds of different "community" based sites like Myspace or Friendster. Yet, most of them have a very loyal base of users so does that mean there's still a market for this type of site? The second part of this question is what scripts are the best for this type of application? There are way too many to choose from nowadays.
Of course there is a market for social/community sites. Just look at how popular they are. Perhaps you mean is there still a chance for success for new and upcoming social networking sites? Well, not everyone is going to like MySpace and not everyone is going to like Facebook. If you can find a way to do something better than the other, then you've found a place in the market. The best script for this type of application is probably one that is customized to your goals as a community, otherwise you will probably end up becoming a "cookie cutter" social networking site with no real value because people find your just the same as everyone else.
If you are making a social networking site, I suggest adding msn to it, because I am using facebook now and the only disadvantage that I hate about facebook is there is no msn, and I use it so much.
Check out the site, www.killerstartups.com, and tell me if the market is still good for Social Networking sites. It seems that is what every start up is these days. It's the new catch phrase. If you are going to do it, please do something original. Please!
There is a definite market for social websites out there. People are becoming more intelligent and are losing fulfillment from the rundown mundane routine of television. They would like to find a place that is fun and easy to talk to other REAL people. You should also try business social sites like MyOneConnection.com. I know that you can meet people and businesses there as well.
There is still a market for everything online practically. You just have to do things slightly different and watch or competitors closely and try and be better than them. You will then get in amongst the bigger ones sooner or lately if you do things right.
I'd write my own. Your own code is always better. And you should do extensive research before jumping right in. And some things to keep in mind, facebook is doing everything these days. They've launched the FaceBook platform, allowing users to create apps with deep integration. Not to discourage you, but you have to find this stuff, make it better, and succeed. There's definitely a market for it, you just have to make it perfect. MySpace is dying out, it's been proven. They are still gaining millions of users in a very short time, but FaceBook is catching up. Find their weaknesses (features and marketing that is) and exploit them and fix them within your own site. You will never be as big, but you can definitely make some cash and get some visitors if done correctly. Remember affiliates are key. Hope this helps!
I would only start with new social network if i had an idea, how to make my site stand out of the crowd, if you are going to clone myspace then it is probably waste of time. Take your time and think for a while: What will make my site special so people will visit me instead of myspace/facebook or whatever. You can also consider starting niche social network.
Look at trends in other more mature areas of the internet. Search became commonplace and saturated by the big boys. The we began to see a more agressive approach to more specific search (local, niche, etc) Dating sites have gone from the broad spectrum of users to a vast selection of niche dating sites from millionaires to seniors. It's safe to assume that social networks will evolve in the same way.
Dating niche is far from being matured. There can be a lot more that can be achieved in that stream. Just that I need some heavy investment to get started.. Any "Angel" investors here ~G
To clarify.(Dating sites) Maybe not completely evolved but more mature than social networks like MySpace.