How to run a small social network site for your friends
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Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderI have what I think is a unique perspective on this. Private small self run social media already exists. It's personal Minecraft servers. When I was younger I ran a Minecraft server out of my toaster of a PC. Friends hopped on, made their own little houses, built stuff and talked. Friends would pass in and out and in order to get in you had to be invited! I'd say max there were 10-20 people on there somewhat consistently. It…
>Why to NOT run a small social network site [...] If you choose to run a site like this, it means that people will now depend on you for something that's important to them. People on Friend Camp are very forgiving when we have down time, and sometimes that down time can last hours if I'm asleep or at a movie or otherwise busy. Kudos to the author for responsibly mentioning the caveats and setting realistic expectations. Before asking friends…
I run a small social network with absolutely no technology at all. Usually consists of six or seven of us sitting in a coffee shop or a bar. It was never broke so stop trying to fix it.
This is mostly good advice. I have so many clients who want to be the next Facebook and think it's as simple as running a site. The technical stuff is easy, but the real work is actually running a community, it's not enough to just have a site, you need to live on it, be there 24/7, handle everything personally grow the community etc. Also I think Facebook has butchered the word 'community', a community is like 100-150 people tops…
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 3
- Total points
- 744
- Total comments
- 382
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-07-08 | How to run a small social network site for your friendsFirst breakout | catacombs | 252 | 60 |
| 2021-03-25 | How to run a small social network site for your friends (2019) | wcerfgba | 3 | 0 |
| 2021-06-15 | How to run a small social network site for your friends | fsnowdin | 1 | 0 |
| 2021-07-04 | How to run a small social network site for your friends | missy-davies | 5 | 0 |
| 2021-09-21 | How to run a small social network site for your friends | conanxin | 6 | 1 |
| 2021-12-07 | How to run a small social network site for your friendsBest thread | quaintdev | 359 | 209 |
| 2023-12-31 | How to run a small social network (2019)Hall induction · Latest 20+ point return | GoRudy | 114 | 112 |
| 2026-03-01 | How to Run a Small Social Network Site for Your Friends | TigerUniversity | 4 | 0 |