Social media app development is still relevant and will always be. This is the time people are connecting, interacting and socializing more than ever. From a time when our mails and messages took over a week to get delivered to our friends and families, we are at that point of evolution, where messages get delivered instantly. We can video call our folks, send lame jokes, refer them for jobs and do more at the click of a button.
Social media is truly a game changer and a gift to humanity.
Think about it.

We’ve used the power of social media to uplift people, raise awareness about topics that were brushed under the rug, raise funds for a stranger’s medical expenses or general well being, come together to tackle pandemics and natural disasters and more. Social media is as wholesome as it gets and there’s always a space for a new social media platform that has super-niche features and functionalities.

If you’re thinking about your own custom social media app development, you’re in the right place because this guide is all about helping you understand everything you need to know about social media from scratch.

Apart from shedding light on social media mobile app development, we will explore topics like the types of social media platforms, essential features, best practices for social media mobile app development and more.
Let’s get started.

What Do You Mean By Social Media?

Whenever we talk about social media, we only tend to think of two major platforms - Facebook and Twitter. We subconsciously believe these are the only two avenues that perfectly define social media.

However, that’s not true.
Social media is any platform that connects people over a common or a specific cause. It’s a tool that allows people to connect and share content or insights with each other. These pieces of content or insights could be something casual like a life event or an exclusive blog post on time management.

Any platform that brings together people is a social media platform.

To give you a better idea, here are some different types of social media platforms:
Relationship networks like Facebook and LinkedIn, where you connect with people and stay in touch
Discussion and community networks like Reddit and Quora

Media or content sharing networks like Snapchat, Instagram and Clubhouse

Blogging platforms like WordPress, Blogger and more
Consumer review platforms like Yelp and TripAdvisor
Before you get into social media app development, it’s vital to understand the subtle differences among all of these. This understanding will help you zero in on a niche you would like to venture into and develop super-specific features and customized capabilities for your social media app.

Key Social Media Statistics

There are over 96bn social media users around the world. This is almost 50% of the world’s population and twice the number of users from 2015 (2.07bn).
An average user has close to 9 different social media accounts.

The average time spent on social media apps is around 2 hours 24 minutes on a daily basis. Facebook still remains the world’s largest social media platform.

Millennials are the major users of social media followed by baby boomers and boomers.
Despite the market appearing cluttered, there is still ample space for new social media platforms. We say this is the most ideal time to venture into social media app development because of the variety in content that is needed at this point.

A Resourceful Guide On Social Media App Development

Now that we understand what social media is and why there is a demand for it in the market, let’s gradually move on to understanding the effective ways to develop a social media app. Mobile app development is not easy and requires you to consider tons of different factors. To give you a quick head start, let’s begin with some of the inevitable features your social media app should feature.

Essentials Of Social Media App Development

Signup
The fundamental process, signups are what allow people to register on your social media platform and get started with their intended purposes. This process involves letting users create an account using their email addresses or other social credentials like that of Facebook or Google+.
Handle Creation

A social handle refers to the individual account users create on a social media platform. Social media app development pays extra attention to this process as this phase allows users to provide platform-centric information for others to have a look at. This is where users upload their photos, add bios, reference links, portfolios and more based on the type of social media app you create.

Feed
Once the registration and verification processes are done, users are taken to their feed. This is the most happening place on your app, where users can view content from other users, engage with them, click on profiles to get to know people better and do more.

This is a crucial aspect in mobile app development as the aesthetics and the layout of your feed determines how long your users will stay on your platform. Give them a variety and surprise them often.

Content Creation

With this module, your users create a piece of content that falls in line with your social platform’s purpose. For instance, this module lets users upload and share photos when it comes to Instagram and posts or articles when it comes to LinkedIn.

Your platform should provide a space for people to share their thoughts and have adequate supporting tools and features like hyperlinks, images, video support and more to support their ideas.

It is also in this phase of social media app development that you develop modules to engage with other people’s posts through likes, comments and shares. You can come up with a new interactive element as well.
Notifications

When people like a user’s post or something interesting happens, they are notified about this. Notifications are what make people come back to u
sing your app.
Instant Messaging
Today’s users are impulsive and instant gratification is the need of the hour. If they see something interesting, they immediately want to share it with their friends and family. That’s why your social media app development plan should incorporate instant messaging features within the app to let your users interact with others instantly.
Search

People are always looking for other people online. They are looking for their long-lost friends, celebrities, influencers, diplomats and more to stay connected with them. Search is a good way to let users reach their friends and families.
Community Development

Social media is all about operating as a community. That’s why you should include this module in your social media app development plan. You should let like-minded people create groups and share interests and insights, discuss ideas and do more.

Recommended Features

While we saw some essential features that should go into your social media app development, having some advanced features will help you sustain the interest you generate for your platform. It increases user retention and engagement. So, let’s quickly check out some recommended features for your app.
Augmented Reality (AR) is a rage currently. With platforms like Instagram and Snapchat offering AR-driven features to keep audiences captivated and engaged, your app should have an AR-powered use case to offer an immersive experience to your users. It could be fun and casual or vision-propelled based on your platform.

Live features are also recommended as it allows users to conduct live and interactive sessions with their followers. If you have a specific social media platform for musicians, live features could let them do gigs online and raise funds as well.

Disappearing Content is also a trend these days. Fear of missing out is real and social media thrives on it. That’s why your mobile app development plan should feature ephemeral content that lets stories and updates stay for only specific time such as 24 hours.

Regionalization brings in a great level of engagement among users as they get access to content that is related to their location, geography and demographics.

Short videos of durations 15 seconds or less are also ideal value additions. Considering the attention spans of people online, these features will help you increase viewership and engagement.

A Systematic Approach To Social Media App Development
Like we mentioned, mobile app development is complicated and specifically, social media app development requires tons of intricate details and considerations. For the uninitiated, here is a systematic approach to app development that you will find helpful.

Get started with narrowing down your app’s purpose and vision and then zero in on a niche. Do you want to start a platform for a specific community? Is it a generic social media app? What is it going to be? Once you define this, you will be able to find out exactly who your target audience is and what their behavior is like.

Once you get an idea about your users, their preferences and tastes, tech affinity and more, you automatically have a clarity on the features and modules you need to include. You also get an idea on how simple and minimalistic your app should look and feel. This is crucial in social media app development.

Based on this clarity, you go on to develop your app’s UI and UX. From color schemes and aesthetics to how seamless it functions, you work on all fundamental aspects at this point. You also trigger the development phase by deciding how you intend to go about with Android app development and iOS app development. Should you have distinct native apps or one cross platform app?

Marketing is the next journey you should venture into in your social media app development process. Marketing allows you to carve a space for your app in the market and let users know about a brand new arrival. With effective targeting, you can directly reach out to your target audiences and push your app.

Once people get to know about your app, they will download and when all your research and analyses pay off, your app will find a permanent space in your target users’ devices.

Social Media App Monetization

We understand. So far, we’ve only been discussing what your users would ultimately get and experience through your app. What about your RoI? How do you make up for what you’ve invested over months or probably even years?

Well, that’s why we have some solid monetization strategies. Let’s explore them.
Subscription-based Access

While all the social media platforms are free to register and use, you could stand out from the crowd by rolling out a paid social media platform. This gives an image of exclusivity and premium appeal to users. Besides, paid apps also have a limited but quality crowd, which ultimately attracts your actual users from your target audience. This, in turn, increases app retention.

To get an idea, take inspiration from how Clubhouse manages to appear exclusive through invite-only signup procedures. More people were curious about the app and wanted to know what was happening on the platform. Go exclusive and see your app soaring in the market.

Advertisements

One of the fundamental ways to keep the cash registers ringing is by offering real estate on your app to brands and businesses for commercials and advertisements. Through sponsored posts and full-fledged ads, you can make money by showing people ads based on their interests and preferences.

In-App Purchases

You can keep your app free and lock some crucial features for users who want to pay. These could be advanced modules that actually add value to users’ visions and intentions. Interested people will genuinely pay and avail your services. For those who don’t want to upgrade to premium modules, they can still access the basic features of your app. Notice how LinkedIn In mail pulls this off seamlessly.

Wrapping Up

So, these were the essential pointers for a solid social media app development in the market. Like you saw, social media app development is layered and nuanced. You need the assistance of veterans and experts to design and develop an app that stands the test of time.

That’s why we recommend getting in touch with us. We are pioneers in mobile app development, who specialize in developing social media apps. In an ever-evolving market, if you want your app to have a permanent place for itself in the market, you need to collaborate with us.
Reach out to us today to discuss your ideas.

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