There is a lot of success social networking site out there that created using an open source or commercial content management system.

You can get starting create yours social networking site by using avalaible social networking CMS. If you have enought money you can paid for commercial social network CMS. For you guys who have enought time and have passion in programming and design, you can create it yourself. In this post im not talking about how to create social networking from scratch, but i will share with you list of some open sources CMS that ready for creating social networking site.

BuddyPress

For WordPress users, BuddyPress may be the best option. With BuddyPress you can turn a WordPress MU installation into a social networking site. BuddyPress is a suite of WordPress plugins and themes, each adding a distinct new feature. BuddyPress contains all the features you’d expect from WordPress but aims to let members socially interact.

Feature

• Extended Profiles
• Private Messaging
• Friends
• Groups
• The Wire
• Activity Streams
• Blog Tracking
• Forums

Demo

Drupal

Drupal is a popular open source content management system that can be used to create social networking and social media sites. Design Bump, a social news site for the design community, is built on Drupal. You can learn how to create your social networkig site using drupal by reading tutorial on woorkup How to build a Social Networking Website with Drupal

Pligg

Pligg is an open source Content Management System (CMS) that you can download and use for free. Pligg CMS provides social networking software that encourages visitors to register on your website so that they can submit content and connect with other users. Designfloat using pligg as their CMS.

Feature

• Groups
• Private Messaging
• Advanced Comment System
• User Profiles

Demo

Elgg

Elgg, started in 2004, is an open source social engine which powers all kinds of social environments - from education to business and sports.

Feature

• Activity
• Profile
• Notifications
• Groups
• Blog
• Embed files Files
• Microblogging

Demo

SWCMS

Social Web CMS (SWCMS) is a mature, full-featured, and open source social news application written in PHP and utilizing a MySQL backend. From the web newbie looking for a simple way to enter the playing field to advanced developers hoping to drive social news to the next level, SWCMS is your best source for full, free, and actively developed social news applications.

Feature

• SOCIAL CONTENT:
  • User Submitted Articles.
  • Vote/Bury Articles.
  • Threaded Comments.
  • Comment Rating.
  • Live AJAX Activity Page.
• CUSTOMIZABLE CONTENT:
  • Sort Submitted Content For Easy Discovery.
  • Automatic RSS Feed Creation for Site Sections and Categories.
  • Automatic RSS Feeds for Each User.
• SOCIAL NETWORKING:
  • Member Profiles.
  • Private Messaging.
• SECURITY:
  • Anti Spam Features Built-In (Captcha, Akismet, Email Verification).
  • URL Blocklist.
• ADVANCED ADMINISTRATION:
  • Administrator’s Control Panel.
  • RSS Content Importer.
• CUSTOMIZATION:
  • Smarty Template Engine.
  • Search Engine Friendly.
  • Multi Language Support.
• EXTENSIBLE:
  • Addon Module Support.

Aniway, with some manual coding and voteitup plugin, you can also convert your wordpress site into social networking site. Take a look at working example.

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