# Should I use Rails for a social networking site?

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/should-i-use-rails-for-a-social-networking-site/75457>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [November 9, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/should-i-use-rails-for-a-social-networking-site/75457 "2006-11-09T23:46:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![list\_junkie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/76d3ee/32.png) [@list\_junkie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/list_junkie)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/should-i-use-rails-for-a-social-networking-site/75457/1 "2006-11-09T23:46:51Z")

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I’ve been talking with a friend of a friend about perhaps being “the  
techie” of her new social networking site. She has a business  
background so she has no language biases one way or another, although  
she has been involved in the business aspects of launching websites in  
the past, so she doesn’t have any experience with Rails.

From what I’ve gleaned from her, she doesn’t want to do anything  
technically difficult or groundbreaking. Assuming that I want to  
persuade her to use Rails, what arguments should I use? OR, perhaps  
social networking websites are a “solved” problem, and the language  
used doesn’t really matter?

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**Author:** ![list\_junkie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/76d3ee/32.png) [@list\_junkie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/list_junkie)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/should-i-use-rails-for-a-social-networking-site/75457/2 "2006-11-09T23:48:52Z")

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On 11/9/06, list junkie [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:

> Assuming that I want to  
> persuade her to use Rails, what arguments should I use?

[http://pastie.caboo.se/21494](http://pastie.caboo.se/21494)

You are now halfway there 🙂

j/k of course.

–  
Greg D.  
[http://destiney.com/](http://destiney.com/)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![list\_junkie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/76d3ee/32.png) [@list\_junkie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/list_junkie)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/should-i-use-rails-for-a-social-networking-site/75457/3 "2006-11-10T14:48:17Z")

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The same arguments you use for pushing Rails any time.

1.) It’s fast, coder-friendly and flexible. You can do your work faster,  
adjust to new requirements faster, and maintain the code effectively.  
2.) She can boast on her site that she’s using that sexy new framework,  
Ruby on Rails.  
3.) [Insert other benefits here]

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![list\_junkie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/76d3ee/32.png) [@list\_junkie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/list_junkie)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/should-i-use-rails-for-a-social-networking-site/75457/4 "2006-11-10T18:04:57Z")

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Coming from a business and not tech background, you need to make sure  
she can answer the following questions:

1. will your site DO something hard to replicate by competitors?
2. will your site TARGET a group of people not satisfied with  
competitors?
3. will the site launch with a formidable set of PARTNERSHIPS?

If the answer to all is “no,” then I wouldn’t expect the site to  
succeed. Proceed at your own risk. (I know this is non-technical but  
I’m trying to contribute what skills I have!)