Recreating Facebook (as reverse market place)

I wanted to create a market place where customers post their desires like I want an AI image of a man in a business suit infront of a board room, or I want an AI video of blah, or an AI marketing content about our product.

AI artists and prompt engineers can reply with the quick attempts.

A customer can decide if any of the artist or prompt engineers are creating content that resonates with them and then at that point decide to work with them.

It's called a reverse market place.

I had one build in sharetribe but didn't like the interface or the proprietary nature. They had their own datastore instead using Postgres for example.

But the stack seems simple. It's like facebook:

Create users

User Post updates (listings in this case)

Other users comment or respond to original postings.

I thought I'd asked GPT about creating this. I was suprised how long it estimated like 2-3 months.

One person created my sharedtribe site in about two weeks and included stripe payment functionality.

Me:

I want to write a copy of Facebook and host it on Amazon AWS. I would like three layers. I would like a UI with something like javascript and react or anything you'd recommend. I'd like an application layer written in probably phython or some easy to read language . For example java is difficult for me. For the data storage level I want to use Postgres. Can you explain an architecture like this and the feasibility and how long it would take to build with you with or without something like Cursor or Replit.

gpt

Building a Facebook-like application with the architecture you described—using JavaScript and React for the UI, Python for the application layer, and Postgres for data storage—is feasible, though it’s a large and complex project that will require careful planning and significant time.

Here’s a high-level overview of the architecture:

1. UI Layer (Frontend)

• Technology: JavaScript and React (or another frontend framework like Vue.js or Angular).

• Function: This layer handles everything the user interacts with—news feeds, messaging, notifications, posts, and so on. React is a good choice because it offers reusable components and has a large ecosystem.

• Hosting: You can host the frontend using AWS Amplify or S3 with CloudFront for content delivery, which will give you scalable static site hosting.

2. Application Layer (Backend)

• Technology: Python (using a framework like Django or Flask).

• Function: This is where the business logic happens—handling user authentication, managing posts, connections, notifications, etc. Django comes with built-in features like authentication, session management, and more, while Flask is more lightweight and flexible.

• Hosting: You could deploy this layer on AWS Elastic Beanstalk, AWS Lambda (for a serverless option), or EC2 instances. Using Docker containers can also make the application layer more portable and scalable.

3. Data Storage Layer (Database)

• Technology: Postgres (using AWS RDS for managed services).

• Function: All user data, posts, messages, and connections will be stored in Postgres. Postgres is great for handling relational data, and AWS RDS offers automatic backups, scaling, and high availability.

• Hosting: Use AWS RDS for Postgres to handle all the database management. You could also set up read replicas for scaling read-heavy operations (like browsing feeds).

Feasibility

• Development Time: For a basic MVP (minimal viable product), you’re looking at a few months depending on the feature set. For a fully functional clone of Facebook with authentication, posts, newsfeeds, messaging, etc., it could take anywhere from 6 to 12 months or more, even with a small team.

• With Tools Like Cursor or Replit: Tools like Cursor or Replit can accelerate the development process, particularly for prototyping and real-time collaboration. However, for a project of this scale, you’ll likely need to move to a full-fledged IDE (like VSCode) and a robust CI/CD pipeline for deployments on AWS.

Considerations

• Scalability: Facebook’s scale is massive, so starting small and architecting for scalability later (through horizontal scaling, database sharding, and caching using something like Redis) is important.

• Authentication: Use services like AWS Cognito to handle secure user authentication and identity management.

• Security: Implementing security best practices (input validation, data encryption, etc.) is critical from the beginning.

Rough Breakdown of Time Estimate

• Frontend Development (UI): 2-3 months for a feature-complete UI.

• Backend Development (API): 2-4 months for building and integrating features like posts, messages, notifications.

• Database Design and Setup: 1-2 months to design and implement the database schema and optimize queries.

• AWS Setup and Configuration: 1 month, depending on your experience with cloud services.

Using Replit/Cursor

• Replit: Great for fast iterations, especially for the frontend and quick backend APIs. It can help with rapid prototyping, but you’ll need to shift to a more robust development environment for scaling.

• Cursor: Can help with code generation and may speed up certain parts of development but not enough to drastically reduce the overall timeline for a project of this scale.

Would you like to focus on building an MVP first, and then iteratively add features, or are you aiming for a fully developed version from the start?

Me:

I want to build a minimal viable version of Facebook which is : register which would create user name and password , initially no need for other information. Later would like to add collecting email, first name and last name. post a posting, like what the user did to day or something they found interesting. connect friends: they would have be able to browse other users and offer to connect with them. The other users could accept or decline the reqeust. respond to postings: for a users connections they could see and respond with comments to others users postings. As part of the response they could at a text comment , a image comment or a comment with link in it.

gpt

o build the minimal viable product (MVP) you outlined, here's a rough breakdown of the time required for each feature:

1. User Registration (Username and Password)

• Backend: Build a simple user registration system with username and password storage. Passwords should be hashed and securely stored. This will also involve user authentication (login/logout).

• Frontend: Build the registration and login forms.

• Time Estimate: 1-2 weeks

2. Posting Updates

• Backend: Create an API to allow users to create, retrieve, and store posts (simple text initially).

• Frontend: Build the UI to allow users to write and submit posts and display their posts on their feed.

• Time Estimate: 1-2 weeks

3. Connecting Friends

• Backend: Allow users to browse other users, send a friend request, and handle accept/decline functionality.

• Frontend: UI for browsing users, sending/receiving friend requests, and showing connections.

• Time Estimate: 2-3 weeks

4. Responding to Posts (Text, Image, or Link Comments)

• Backend: Add the ability to comment on posts with text, images, and links. You’ll need to handle media uploads securely.

• Frontend: UI for users to view posts and respond with text or image comments.

• Time Estimate: 2-3 weeks for text and link comments; an additional 2 weeks for image comments (due to media handling).

Total Estimated Time:

• Rough Timeline: 8-10 weeks (2-3 months) for a basic MVP.

If you want to use development tools like Replit or Cursor, it may speed up prototyping, but the backend and database setup (Postgres on AWS) will still need careful attention for security and scalability.

Would you like to move forward with this timeline, or adjust it to focus on some features first?

me

what tables would I need to create in Postgres to store the data.

For the MVP you described, you would need a few core tables in Postgres to store user data, posts, connections, and comments. Here is a basic structure of what the database schema could look like:

1. Users Table

This table will store user credentials and profile information.

sql
Copy code
CREATE TABLE users (
    user_id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    username VARCHAR(50) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
    password_hash VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    email VARCHAR(100),           -- Can be added later
    first_name VARCHAR(50),        -- Can be added later
    last_name VARCHAR(50)          -- Can be added later
);

2. Posts Table

This table will store user posts.

sql
CREATE TABLE posts (
    post_id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    user_id INT REFERENCES users(user_id),
    content TEXT NOT NULL,
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

3. Connections Table

This table will store friend connections (i.e., friend requests, acceptances, and statuses). Each row represents a relationship between two users.

sql
CREATE TABLE connections (
    connection_id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    user_id INT REFERENCES users(user_id),
    friend_id INT REFERENCES users(user_id),
    status VARCHAR(20) CHECK (status IN ('pending', 'accepted', 'declined')),
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

4. Comments Table

This table will store comments on posts, including text, images, and links.

sql
CREATE TABLE comments (
    comment_id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    post_id INT REFERENCES posts(post_id),
    user_id INT REFERENCES users(user_id),
    comment_text TEXT,                     -- For text comments
    comment_image_url VARCHAR(255),         -- For image comments (URL to image)
    comment_link_url VARCHAR(255),          -- For link comments (URL)
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

;

5. Likes Table (Optional for Future)

This can track likes for posts or comments if you want to add that feature later.

sql
sql
Copy code
CREATE TABLE likes (
    like_id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    post_id INT REFERENCES posts(post_id),
    user_id INT REFERENCES users(user_id),
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

Relationships:

• Users to Posts: A user can create multiple posts.

• Users to Connections: Each user can have multiple connections with other users.

• Posts to Comments: Each post can have multiple comments.

Indexing:

You'll want to create indexes on the foreign key columns to optimize query performance. For example:

sql
CREATE INDEX idx_user_id ON posts(user_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_post_id ON comments(post_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_user_id_friend_id ON connections(user_id, friend_id);

This setup should cover the basic functionality you described: user registration, posting, connecting friends, and commenting. Later on, you can extend the schema to handle additional information like email, first name, and last name.

Would you like any adjustments or additional fields?

me

is there an existing software stack either freeware , github or payfor that already has this basic functionality that I could use?

gpt

Yes, there are several open-source and commercial software stacks that provide social media-like functionality, which could serve as a foundation for your project. Here are some options:

1. HumHub

• Type: Open-source

• Description: HumHub is a free, open-source social network platform. It provides user registration, posts, comments, friend connections, notifications, groups, etc. It can be extended with modules for additional functionality.

• Tech Stack: PHP, MySQL/PostgreSQL

• Pros:

  • Has most of the core social network features out-of-the-box.

  • Highly customizable and modular.

  • Actively maintained with a community of developers.

• Cons:

  • Uses PHP, so if you're committed to using Python, this may not be the best option.

2. Django Packages

• Type: Open-source (Python-based)

• Description: There are several Django-based packages for creating social networks. For example, Django frameworks such as Pinax or Django Social Auth offer components to build social network features like registration, authentication, and posts.

• Tech Stack: Python, Django, PostgreSQL (or any DB supported by Django)

• Pros:

  • Leverages Django’s robustness and flexibility.

  • Python-based, so it aligns with your preferred tech stack.

  • Has many plug-and-play components for social features.

• Cons:

  • Not a complete solution out of the box, so you will need to integrate different components and still do a fair amount of custom work.

3. Elgg

• Type: Open-source

• Description: Elgg is an open-source social networking engine, designed to power social environments and provide user registration, posting, comments, and more.

• Tech Stack: PHP, MySQL/PostgreSQL

• Pros:

  • Provides core features like posting, commenting, friending, and notifications.

  • Flexible and easy to extend with plugins.

• Cons:

  • Similar to HumHub, it uses PHP, so it would require learning PHP to customize.

4. NodeBB

• Type: Open-source

• Description: NodeBB is a modern forum platform that can be easily modified to function as a social network. It has features for user registration, posting, commenting, and real-time chat.

• Tech Stack: JavaScript, Node.js, MongoDB/Redis

• Pros:

  • Highly customizable and real-time chat capabilities.

  • Written in JavaScript, which aligns with your frontend tech stack.

• Cons:

  • Built primarily as a forum software, so it might require significant customization to fit the social network paradigm.

5. Discourse

• Type: Open-source (also has paid options for hosting)

• Description: Discourse is a popular open-source discussion platform, but with modifications, it can be used to build a social network. It offers user registration, posts, and comment threads.

• Tech Stack: Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL

• Pros:

  • Extremely flexible with robust user management and moderation tools.

  • Active development and large community support.

• Cons:

  • Ruby on Rails based, so not aligned with your preferred Python stack.

6. BuddyBoss

• Type: Paid (based on WordPress)

• Description: BuddyBoss provides a powerful, customizable social network platform built on WordPress. It includes features like profiles, groups, posts, comments, and messaging.

• Tech Stack: WordPress, PHP, MySQL/PostgreSQL

• Pros:

  • Easy to set up and get running quickly.

  • Can be customized with many WordPress plugins.

• Cons:

  • Uses PHP, and it's a paid solution.

7. PeepSo

• Type: Paid (WordPress plugin)

• Description: PeepSo is a social networking plugin for WordPress. It allows you to create a fully functional social network with user registration, posting, commenting, and friending features.

• Tech Stack: WordPress, PHP

• Pros:

  • Easy to get started with WordPress and PeepSo.

  • Offers core social network features and is extensible.

• Cons:

  • Limited in terms of customization compared to full custom solutions.

  • PHP-based, may not align with your preference for Python.

8. SocialEngine

• Type: Paid

• Description: SocialEngine is a paid social network software that provides most of the features you’d need for building a Facebook-like platform. It comes with user profiles, posts, comments, and more out-of-the-box.

• Tech Stack: PHP, MySQL

• Pros:

  • Ready-to-use platform for social networking.

  • Customizable with plugins and themes.

• Cons:

  • Paid solution.

  • PHP-based.

9. MeteorJS

• Type: Open-source

• Description: MeteorJS is a full-stack JavaScript framework that makes building real-time applications very easy. With its integrated database and real-time capabilities, it could be used to build your MVP quickly.

• Tech Stack: JavaScript, MongoDB

• Pros:

  • Full-stack solution with real-time data handling.

  • Quick to prototype and build an MVP.

• Cons:

  • Uses MongoDB by default (though you can configure it to work with Postgres).

  • JavaScript-based backend (which may require some adjustment if you're more comfortable with Python).

Recommendation

If you are comfortable working with Python, I would recommend using Django with some of the existing packages that add social networking features. Django has strong community support and allows for more flexibility in the future.

For a quicker solution with less coding, HumHub or Elgg might be a good starting point since they have most of the core social networking features you need. If you’re open to using PHP, either of these could save you a lot of time.

Would you like to explore any of these options further?