There's a frenzy going on in the development of Social Engine based networks and social apps for said networks
. It's not hard to figure out why - smart phones and social media are hot trends. It also proves just how effective the platform is for bringing these two trends together.
Best part is that the current development is just a tiny part of what's about to come. It can be overlaid on a blog or photo upload website or any site where there's a community that needs a social network. The social app is so that members can post content via their iPhones and iPads.
For the owner, it's a ride straight to the bank. There are immediate possibilities for monetization by offering the social app for download at a price. A branded iPhone social app can be set up very quickly and offered for download via iTunes.
High traffic networks with lots of members and popular content can charge up to 5 or 6 dollars for the app. It should, of course, be useful enough. At the very least, throw in a nice interface that members can use to post content, and enable video and photo sharing.
Another advantage is that the platform is PHP-based and works on mods and plug-ins, like phpBB. With an active SE community and the SDK source available for download, there are tons of good plug-ins. There are plug-ins for everything from blog hosting to photo sharing, language translations and offering social iPhone apps for download via iTunes. The site owner can pick and choose what plug-ins to install.
The installation itself is pretty smooth and easy with the newly released version 4.0. It has a drag and drop CMS and package manager that makes it easy to add third-party mods and plugins. In its day, phpBB rose to become the most popular bulletin board for all the same reasons. Social Engine now looks like it will dominate social networks in the same way.