How to Make a Social Media App

You can hardly find a person that is not on social media.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube. The list goes on and on.

As you already know, social media is a solution that allows users to create profiles and share different types of content, such as text, photo, video, audio. The main goal of a social media app is to create a community of users united by the same ideas, interests, beliefs, etc.

Today, Facebook and YouTube lead the market by the number of monthly active users, followed by WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and others.

Before starting social network app development, it’s essential first to understand the key app types. This understanding will help you with further market and competitor research required to build a social media app.

Let’s take a look at and get some inspiration from some of the most widespread types of social media apps.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

The main goal of social networks is connecting people and building communities. Users can share content, such as videos or photos. Facebook, for example, also offers all sorts of groups where users can communicate with like-minded group members united by some interests, ideas, and visions.

Examples: Facebook

MEDIA SHARING NETWORKS

The name of such networks is self-explanatory. Depending on the platform, users can share different types of content, such as photos and videos. Despite being a little bit similar with social networks, media sharing networks usually concentrate on a specific content type. For example, the key feature of TikTok is sharing short videos.

Examples: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube

DISCUSSION FORUMS

As the name hints, this type of social network allows users to start a discussion, ask questions and get answers from the community. Such forums can be specialized or have overall direction.

Examples: Quora, Reddit

CONTENT SHARING NETWORKS

Content sharing networks are a great place to search for creative ideas and inspiration. They allow users to save links to interesting content, organize them in folders and share them with the community.

Examples: Pinterest, Flipboard

CONSUMER REVIEW NETWORKS

Users of such networks can share their reviews of companies, brands, products, cafes, restaurants, etc. Consumer review networks are a valuable source for businesses, as in the case of positive reviews, they can expand their audience and get new customers. There are numerous review platforms dedicated to restaurants, hotels, and other traveling destinations.

Example: Yelp, TripAdvisor

BLOGGING AND PUBLISHING NETWORKS

Today, users don’t need to create a website from scratch to create a personal blog. Such platforms as Medium allow starting a blog and sharing articles.

Examples: Medium, Twitter

RELATIONSHIP NETWORKS

This type of network is also known as dating apps. Their main goal is to help users meet new people and find dates.

Examples: Tinder, Badoo

INTEREST-BASED NETWORKS

Interest-based networks are designed to unite people by their interests, occupations, hobbies, and other areas of common interest.

Examples: LinkedIn

ANONYMOUS SOCIAL NETWORKS

Anonymous networks allow users to post content and share videos while keeping their identities private.

Examples: Whisper, Ask.fm

CHOOSE THE BEST OPTION FOR SOCIAL NETWORK APP DEVELOPMENT

To bring your idea to life, you’ll probably need the help of those who know how to make a social media app. There are a few options available for your choice:

• Freelance developers – this might be an attractive option from the financial point of view, but you’ll need to take care of project management, finding, and communicating with freelancers. You need to have advanced project management skills to organize a few freelancers into a team that will work on your project. There is no guarantee that they will be able to deliver the project you paid for.
• Create an app with an app builder – if you are wondering how to make a social media app for free, app builders are your answer. While you can create some of the simplest apps with them, it’s impossible to build a social media app using app builders. They are very limiting when it comes to functionality and further scaling.
• Hire a social media app development company – hiring professionals with the knowledge of how to make a social media app might turn into the most cost- and time-efficient options in the long run. Working with

IT outsourcing professionals means there won’t be any redoings, unexpected project timeframe delays, scalability and customization problems. You can create the app of your dream and ensure with no need to micromanage every single step of the development process. START THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

At this stage, the creation of the app starts. The social network app development process is usually divided into the discovery and development stages, each dedicated to different works on the project.

DISCOVERY STAGE

In addition to business analysis, UX (define how users will interact with an app) and UI (define how the app will look) design is also a part of the discovery stage.

The final result of this stage is the design prototype to be used during social media app development.

DEVELOPMENT STAGE

Quality assurance is an important part of the development process. Quality assurance engineers perform several tests – unit, integration, functional, performance testing to check the app for bugs and identify how it withstands high loads – all to ensure that users won’t have any problems with the app after its launch.

PROMOTE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA APPLICATION

After your social media app is all cooked and out, it might seem like the job is over. In reality, the work just begins, as app promotion is an essential part of the development process. There are a number of strategies that you can use:

• App Store Optimization (ASO) – after the application is submitted to the app store, start working on its optimization. ASO includes working on the app description and images, optimizing its title to make the app’s page more attractive in the eyes of potential users.
• Organic User Acquisition (OUA) – organic promotion deals with everything content, including blog posts, product videos, etc. All these tools can be used to improve user acquisition.
• Paid ads – launching ads on Google and in social media will help you get the first user base and start the brand awareness strategy.
• Influencer marketing – partnering up with influences is a great way to get your app in front of potential users. Especially if you find an influencer who is a renowned figure among your target audience.
• Partnership promotions – partnering up with other applications that are popular among your target audience will help you acquire new users to the app. These partnerships can be either paid or free.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO MAKE A SOCIAL MEDIA APP?

Cost to build a social media app with a simple number of features for a single operating system (iOS or Android) can range from $50,000 to $60,000. The final development cost depends on a number of aspects, such as features and their complexity, number of targeted platforms, design complexity, and even the location where you hire a social media app development company.

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