About Me

Before I start begging for your money, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Bucky Roberts. I am the founder of http://thenewboston.org/, a website that provides free educational videos to everyone on the web. I actually started creating educational videos a few years ago (in my bedroom) and uploading them to YouTube. At first, I made a few tutorials mostly about web design and computer programming. After a while, I started teaching other programming languages, and other computer related topics as well. Currently, my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston has over 373,000 subscribers and over 107 million views!

Why create another social network?

This will be much more than just a social network. This project will change the world.

Thanks to everyone who has supported thenewboston over the years, we have already built one of the largest communities of techies, web-designers, and programmers on the entire internet. What if this community could work together towards a common goal? Imagine what we could accomplish. With an infinite number of new ideas and the amount of talent that we have together, we can create something beautiful. Our own social network that is open and free, not one that is restricted by the pressures of stockholders or corporate laws. We can build a better way to connect the world.

Why will this be different? 

There are many reasons why open source is better than proprietary software.

1. Security - A common misconception is that open source software is somehow less secure due to the fact that its code is available for anyone to see. This can not be any further from the truth. With open source software any error, bug, or security vulnerability is spotted almost instantly. The more people there are checking over the code, the safer our website will be.
2. Quality - Instead of a small team of developers working to enhance a project, we have thousands. Once a bug or problem is spotted, there will be an infinite amount of developers who will work together and create the best solution to fix it.
3. Innovation and Growth - We will be able to innovate, add new features, and improve existing code faster than any company out there. No restrictions due to deadlines, lack of funding, or any other proprietary issues.
4. Customization - Anyone can download, improve, develop new features, or change this code in any way. (Good luck doing that with proprietary software!)
5. Freedom and Support - Open source software is not only 100% free, but also has the best communities for any help and support in the world. In addition to the development communities, there will be documentation, wikis, and forums all built by the community, for the community.

Funding

All funding will go directly towards server costs and hiring initial developers.

Server Costs - A project of this size will require a very powerful server. As the community and user base continues to grow, so must the capabilities of the server. For this reason, a cloud server would hold many benefits over a dedicated server. Processing power as well as storage space would not only be flexible, but also suitable to handle the large amount of pictures, data, and videos that will be uploaded daily. 

http://www.rackspace.com/cloud/servers/pricing/

A suitable cloud server with 1.2 TB of disk space will costs around $963.00/month for a fully managed server. This would allow us to focus on the coding and programming of the website, and not have to worry about network administration or server maintenance.

Initial Developers - I have already contributed over $6,000.00 of my personal funds towards initial developer costs (and will continue to contribute more as my checkbook allows). With open source projects, there is often quite a bit confusion in the beginning about the direction of the project. I want to make certain that this is not an issue with this website.

I am working with the best programmers in the world to build a solid foundation for this website. This will allow other programmers to better develop, improve existing code faster, and easily add new features in the future.

A glimpse of the future...

This will be much more than a social network. The possibilities for this project stretch far beyond creating new posts and sharing images with your friends. Here are some of the features that will soon be developed:

1. Image Editing App - A full image editing application will eventually be fully integrated into the social network. (Think of Photoshop, but in your browser!) Users will now not only be able to edit and save photos, but also share them directly with their friends. This application will have many of the same features as some of the most powerful image editing programs, however this one will be 100% free to use!
2. Private Chat Rooms - There are a million reasons why public chat rooms are nearly non-existent on the internet (security, spammers, safety, etc...). With private chat rooms, all of this is no longer issue. These group chat rooms are only accessible to the friends you invite. No strangers or spammers will ever be able to join or view your groups’ room. Public chat rooms are a disaster, but with group chat you can easily talk with a group of your friends both privately and securely.
3. Messenger - There will be a state of the art AJAX instant messaging system that will allow one-on-one instant messaging session with friends. Only your friends will be able to message you, preventing any spam or messages from unwanted people. There will also be several easy to use setting giving you full control over your messaging experience.
4. Voting - Give the power to the people! Any new features that are considered for the website will not be forced down the users throat without their consent! (*cough* Facebook *cough*) Users will vote on all design changes and any other major changes before they are implemented on the website.
5. Customization - The majority of the website design will be fully customizable. It is clear that some users prefer some layouts to others. There is no need to force everyone to have to same exact experience when using this website. Users will choose which features they prefer as well as many other fully customizable options.
6. Software Development Platform - The development of an open source project depends on peoples ability to connect and share new ideas. Currently, there is no platform or application that allows users from across the world to easily work on a piece of software together easily. This development platform will give users the ability to edit code, share files, and have conversations with each other all in real time. Whether you are working with one other person or in a team, this feature will allow programmers to work together, develop software, and communicate in amazing new ways.

These are just a few of the many features that will eventually become integrated into this project. As you can see, this project is much more than just a website. It is a platform that will connect, develop, and change the world in a whole new way.

Let's Make a Difference

It’s time to change the face of social networking. We already have the community. We already have the ideas. Now it’s time to make it happen.

Facebook has over 3,500 employees. We have everyone else.