Social Network dev options!!!

Hi all!

New guy here. So, here's the thing:
I have a project with some friends, which is basically a social network websote based on video blogging. I mean, it has authentication, profiles, "friends" and activity streams.

We know how to do this, we are just wondering if it's really neccesary to do it from scratch or is there's a framework that could really help us a lot. I know a PHP Framework like Yii could work GREAT, but there are other options I've found. So the main issue I have is like: WHERE to go??

I can download a PHP Framework and start coding, or open a Drupal account and work with the social networks bundles, or customizae Elgg. Agh, I'm so confused!

Anyway, we are looking for something that gives full control overt he front-end, have you guys done something like this????

I woudl really appreciate the help.

Hii JStriedinger,
Well as a matter of fact I am also making a social networking website , just to learn what it takes to build a site of such a large scale ... I am doing everything from scratch moreover this could be because I dont know much about PHP & Mysql so along with coding and everything I am learning also.
well you can go for Yii or there is a framework called Zend , atleast try it once.
Regards
Jayant