Social Network Development

With the close of Hollywood award season, we look back one last time at the success of The Social Network. This is not a reflection of the outcome of the Academy Awards but the effect Facebook has had on the internet and society itself. As the internet grew exponentially throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, much of that growth could be attributed to a desire of its users to connect socially to one another. Whether it was via email, chat rooms or bulletin boards, the internet helped bring people closer together. Today, with dramatically increased bandwidth and accessibility via handheld devices, social networks have become extremely accessible. With Facebook being The Standard, most internet users have an account in at least one social network.

Even with an enormous user base, many adults choose to avoid Facebook since it appears to be overrun by teenagers posting pictures of themselves taking their own picture in a bathroom mirror. Social networks need not be a generic virtual candy store. They can actually be built to allow members to collaborate on creative endeavors or share knowledge on common interests. Thanks to the success of Facebook, a number of software vendors have jumped into the market with software to produce a rigid social network. So, there are now small social networks developed for company personnel, dating services and sports leagues. While the development time is decreased with these offerings, they do not allow for much flexibility.

Maximum Fantasy Sports faced that obstacle when tasked with developing a social network for the Lingerie Football League. It was a goal of the LFL to bring their fans closer to the talented stars of the LFL and allow them to get a first-hand account of game action, behind-the-scenes details of training camp and practices, locker room speeches and any personal thoughts of its players. This goal was realized with the LFL FanZone.

To complete the design flexibility that was needed, MFS eschewed pre-packaged software solutions in favor of building the social network application from scratch. This approach allowed for integrating registration, security, blogs, personal statuses, chat and sharing of pictures and videos with other members. Writing all the code enabled MFS to build multiple types of users, each with different roles and authorizations. Member types include multiple levels of security administrators, writers, league office personnel, coaches, players and fans. The FanZone contains common networking features with the code written in a fashion that its components could be ported for use in other types of networking applications with further customization. Social networking is not a fad. It is an interactive environment that will continue to grow and mature.