Things to Consider for Successful Social Networking App Development By James Tredwell on September 14, 2020 Social networking platforms have become an integral part of our lives. We can’t imagine our lives without them. Earlier, we had to wait for weeks to get a letter in the mailbox or had to travel long distances to meet our near and dear ones. In today’s digital world, however, we don’t start our mornings until we’ve checked the news feeds on Facebook or Instagram, and read messages on WhatsApp, LinkedIn, or Snapchat. The increased usage of smartphones worldwide has led to the emergence of social networks with more new and advanced features. Due to this, many entrepreneurs cannot afford to miss the chance to be part of the thriving market and think of creating new social networking platforms. If you want to join the bandwagon, then this blog post is meant for you. In this article, you will learn how to create a social networking app that is loved by your users. With so many social networking apps available, sometimes, it’s hard to determine whether an application with social features like news feeds, user profiles, connections, sharing falls under the category of the social network. So which apps are considered to be a social network? To understand how to create a successful social networking site app, let’s first know what a social network is. What is a Social Network? A social network is a network of people who meet online to communicate by sharing views, posting information and images, sending messages, or leaving comments. People can grow their personal and business contacts by connecting with others on social networking sites and apps. So, what exactly encourages people to connect with each other? People want to share opinions, emotions, experiences, and news or just want to communicate with a friend. This choice or desire to communicate or share is driven by interdependence. People depend on each other for recognition, approval, and socialization. This interdependence is based on Friendship Kinship Common interests Financial exchange Beliefs There are several apps available in the market that serve specific purposes. Each social network unites like-minded individuals that have common interests. To better understand the market, you need to understand its players. Here are the common types of social networks: Different Types of Social Network Social Connections Social networking platforms help people to be in touch with their family and friends. Here’s a list of some popular social networking site apps for building social connections online. Facebook: It is the most popular social media platform that helps users to build networks and share information with people and organizations they choose to communicate online. Twitter: This real-time information network allows participants to share their thoughts and stay updated with the latest news and trends. Google+: This social platform allows users to build connections and interact with contacts that use Google products. MySpace: Initially developed as general social media, MySpace now focuses on social entertainment and provides a platform for social connections related to movies, music games, and more. Multimedia Sharing Social networking facilitates the easy sharing of videos and images online. Here are some of the prominent multimedia sharing sites: YouTube: This social media site allows users to upload, share, and view video content. Flicker: This popular platform allows users to manage digital photographs online and share them with others. Professional This social networking platform is built to connect professionals and provide them with opportunities for career growth. Some of these types of networks provide a public forum for professionals to help them interact, while others are focused on a specific profession or interest. Some of the examples of professional social networks include: LinkedIn: LinkedIn has over 135 million members, which makes it the largest online professional network. Using this platform, members have an opportunity to build relationships by making valuable connections and joining interest-specific groups. Classroom 2.0: This social network provides a platform for teachers to connect, share, and help each other with profession-specific matters. Consumer Reviews Such social networking applications help customers to find and submit reviews of businesses they have had experience with. Yelp, Zomato, Airbnb, TaskRabbit, etc., all these platforms fall under this category. Community and Discussion Forums These social platforms provide a great platform for asking questions receiving answers sharing ideas, insights, information, and experience. The best examples of this type of social media app are Quora and Reddit. Educational Educational networks help many students to collaborate with other students on various academic projects, conduct research or work out assignments for school, or to interact with professors and teachers through blog posts and classroom forums. Some of its examples include ePALs School Blog, The Math Forum, The Student Room, Coursera, etc. Blogging and Publishing Platforms These social media sites allow users to create their blogs and publish their content on them. Tumblr and Medium are the most popular platforms that allow thousands of publishers to post their content and share them with others. Interest-based networks Goodreads and Last.fm are great examples of this type of social networking that brings together like-minded people with common interests from all over the world. Participants can share their interests, hobbies, and related experiences on these platforms. The list of social networking platforms is endless. This prosperous market offers many opportunities for entrepreneurs. So, if you’re planning to build a social networking app, you should consider reaching out to a mobile app development company that specializes in social networking app development. Different Platforms for Social Networking App Development Web-based Social Network – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other popular social networks today started as web-based social networks. Hybrid Social Network – Hybrid social networks combine both web and mobile capabilities and can be accessed from any device. They are optimized for mobile and even have mobile apps for Android and iOS platforms. For example, you can access Facebook and LinkedIn from your desktop, laptop, tablet, and mobile phone. Pure Mobile Social Network – Mobile social network apps are designed to work on mobile devices such as smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, etc. Some of its examples include Snapchat, Telegram, etc. Challenges of Social Network App Development Social networking app development can be a challenging task. You must keep your audience and their expectations in mind to make your social network app a big hit. There are for primary elements that you need to consider when creating a social networking app: App Design App UI/UX is crucial for your app’s success. You need to make sure your app is simple and easy-to-use to increase the usability of your app. Users expect swipes and gestures that are familiar and conventional to the platform they are using. Therefore, you should consider the number of differences between designing for iOS and Android. App Personalization Users have different tastes, needs, and preferences. If you want to keep your users hooked to your app, you should consider applying learning filters to your app. Learning filters helps the platform to keep track of users’ actions and deliver relevant content to them for personalized user experience. App Performance If you want to stay in the market and grow your business, you should need to make sure that your app is performing optimally. Users are likely to abandon your app if it has poor performance and doesn’t meet their expectations. Therefore, it is important to create an app with high performance. App Security People want to interact in a completely secure environment and have full control of their data privacy. Maintaining your users’ integrity and security can help you achieve your business objectives and increase revenue. You should give your users full control of the data they share. Therefore, your app should offer features that give them the full right to control. Must-Have Social Networking App Development Technology Stack Notifications Sending push notifications, email, or SMS with CTAs is a great way to motivate users to return to your app and increase the chances of conversions. Payment Systems You should consider integrating your app solution with popular gateways like PayPal, Stripe, or Braintree so that your customers can pay for the products or services through their preferred payment options. Social Network Integration You can allow people to sign-up easily for your app by adding Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn APIs. This way, users can register without having to fill out the necessary information such as name or email again. Additionally, you can also pull the necessary data from existing networks. You can even add social media sharing buttons to allow users to easily share content with others. Chat Functionality Integrating live chat options with your app can facilitate real-time communication. You can use WebSockets or socket.io technology to implement in-app communication. Database Your platform is likely to collect various kinds of text, photo, audio, and video content which you need to store securely. You can choose MySQL, Microsoft SQL, PostgreSQL, or Oracle for your database. Admin Panel for User and Content Management To keep track of the interactions that happen and to know who registers with your app, you need an admin panel. You can manage your users and important data with an admin panel. Integration of data sources If you want to implement additional data sources such as maps or places, you can integrate your application with Google Maps or Google Places APIs. Social Networking App Development Trends to Consider Augmented Reality & Face Filters Instagram and Snapchat are the biggest examples of social network app that uses these technologies. People enjoy trying funny face filters and it seems these trends will never go anywhere. Artificial Intelligence and Chatbots Leveraging artificial intelligence and chatbots can help you learn about your customers and deliver a personalized user experience. Live streaming (live videos) Live streaming is another trending technology that you can allow users to watch live videos or reading posts on social media. Video Content Video content is more effective than text-only posts because users prefer watching videos over reading long articles. It is probably due to the lack of time they have and by the fact that visuals are much easier to understand. Ephemeral content This type of content is live for up to 24 hours and then disappears from your feed. Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Instagram are the best examples here. Stories are a great way to attract and engage users. Content Publishing Companies and users want to share content with as many users as possible. Today, websites are not the only platform to publish content. Social media platforms also offer publishing opportunities to their users. Wrapping Up If you think about creating a successful social networking app, you need to thoroughly analyze your target audience, their needs, and expectations, along with your budget. If you’re a startup, you can start witan MVP with basic functionality and then scale up your app as your business grows. You must also focus on creating the best UI/UX designs and testing them thoroughly to ensure your app’s usability. Besides, you must also choose the right development platform for building your app for your target audience. If you need expert advice and the cost estimate to start a social networking app, you may reach out to a professional social networking app development company for the service and guidance. Author Bio. :- Noor Moore is a Social Media App Developer at SocialEngine India, a leading social network app development company in India.
