1. Bruno Said,

   First a foremost, if you want to have a website that is as complex as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, etc and have it work as well as these sites, you will really want to look into having a professional web development company take this on as it’s a very complex process and they will have a team to deliver this product to you.

   Before I begin, I would like to point out that absolutely none of this is a solicitation of any kind, but merely suggestions based on my experience. What you choose to do will be at your own free will. (Covering myself in case Yahoo! Answers tries to erase my answer)

   If you insist on doing this yourself, you will need many things: A content management system (CMS), a domain name and web host that supports the CMS of choice, you will need a number of designer programs (Graphic editors like Photoshop and Illustrator) and some kind of processing software to make it into a usable template if you plan to make a custom template for your site, and of course experience in HTML, CSS, and other programming languages.

   For a community based website, I suggest using Joomla! as it comes with a free community builder add on (not all add ons are free). I also will give you an introductory video to Joomla! so that you may see what it is and what it does.

   What Is Joomla!?
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiYcdY9owOk

   Community Builder (Explains what this extension is capable of)
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WeRk6ZJ85Q

   Community Builder Configuration (Brief idea of what everything does, check out this guy’s YouTube profile as he has several other videos on this):
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWGA-8o3jw4

   Creating custom templates for Joomla! (shows you how to implement custom templates, this is not free):
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf0Fovrm4Lc&feature=related

   Web Hosting Suggestions (domains are included – be sure to be on a Linux server, otherwise Joomla! cannot be installed):

   1&1 Internet
   http://order.1and1.com/xml/order/Hosting;jsessionid=EF243CD9618858C58D2DC595246E0AF9.TCpfix141b?__frame=_top&__lf=Static&linkId=hd.nav.domains&linkType=txt&linkOrigin=Home

   Web Hosting Pad
   http://www.webhostingpad.com/

   Joomla! website for download (if you so choose):
   http://www.joomla.org/

   Again, these are just suggestions based on my experience. You should feel free to look around the web for other options. If you don’t feel comfortable with Joomla! (YouTube has a lot of Joomla! demonstration videos, check it out), there are other CMS out there (WordPress, Drupal, etc.). WordPress is more for blogging and Drupal is similar to Joomla!, but I don’t know as much about them or if they have as many extensions like what you’re looking for.

   You will also need to do a lot of learning about how to do these things if you’re not already familiar. Again, I would say it’s best just to hire a professional service.

   Hopefully this was helpful to you.
   References :

2. David M Said,

   As you may know a domain name is just a name, not a real website. If you are going to create your website: 1- Buy a domain name. A domain name is a name you want to call your website (ex: http://www.yahoo.com). To get a domain name, you have to pay an annual fee to a registrar for the right to use that name. 2- Buy a web hosting service to provide your online space and enable you to get your website online at your purchased domain name.

   If you want to start your website I recommend purchase your domain and hosting together. In this way it is possible to get your domain for free. Some hosting services offer this gift today.

   As an experienced webmaster I recommend BH web hosting which I’m sure it would work for you and fulfill all your requirements. They have a really great offer for hosting & I have used them for over 3 yrs now, and have never had a single problem with them.

   You can reach reviews about this web hosting provider and its latest DISCOUNT COUPONS at:

   http://www.threehosts.com/reviews/1st

   Only $3.95 /month (with discount coupon)

   ******IMPORTANT********
   * This service was awarded the “Best Web Hosting OF The Year”.
   * If you sign up for this service you will have $75 credits to advertise your website with the google & yahoo search engines for free!
   * You Can Register A Free Domain or Use Your Existing Domains. They Support All Domain Names.
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   Another useful link:
   http://www.threehosts.com/build
   There you can find a step-by-step guide to start your website.

   Hope this helps.
   References :
   http://www.threehosts.com/ror

3. Mark Said,

   If you want Ruby on Rails hosting, any cheap shared hosting probably won’t be good enough. You could try Dreamhost for a month (just use their promo code "DNA" so you don’t have to pay the setup fee), but I recommend you to get VPS right away.

   Slicehost and Linode are great for hosting Ruby on Rails apps, they are both very popular with RoR developers and they both have plans starting from $20/month. They also have the tutorials on how to setup everything for hosting Ruby on Rails apps.

   Amazon EC2 is still too expensive, but works great.
   References :

4. Justin G Said,

   Probably the best place to get a domain and web Hosting would be http://www.leethost.tk

   They have near 24/7 Live Support, Great Forum, Nice Blog, and their packages start at $2.99 a month!
   References :

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