There is open source software called http://pump.io/ http://pump.io/ that does most of what you want in a social network. If you are technically inclined, then

There is open source software called http://pump.io/ http://pump.io/ that does most of what you want in a social network. If you are technically inclined, then yes it is easy to set up a server and run this. But even if you are not technically inclined, there is such a large population of people who have these kind of skills nowadays that if you search through your circle of friends, you will find them. Talk to them, ask them to set up a server for you. Offer to manage it on behalf of your circle of friends, and go for it. P.S. nobody says you have to have only one server and one circle of friends. You can set up a separate one for your circle of political acquaintances too. This is what the web was created for, not to make a small number of new national networks that dominate everything.