Who doesn’t know about Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Snapchat? These applications have taken the world of socializing to the next level. They have eased the process to connect with new people irrespective of the region or religion you belong to, communicate with them in real-time, share your views and thoughts, and build a relationship. They have become an indispensable element of everyone’s lives – a proof of which are the numbers shared below:-
- There are around 3.499 billion active social media users.
- The average time people spend on social media platforms is 142 minutes a day.
- 81% of teenagers have admitted that social media have brought a positive impact on their lives.
- Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp manages over 60 billion messages on a daily basis.
- Around 6 new people joins Facebook every second.
- There are nearly 60 million active business pages on Facebook.
- A total of 1.3 billion accounts are currently available on Twitter, out of which 330 million are active users.
- More than 95 millions pictures are uploaded on social media platforms everyday.
- There are somewhat around 800 million active users on Instagram.
- In 2016, around $90 million were spent on Snapchat ads.
Now, while these numbers fascinate users to create their profile on these social media platforms and engage more effectively, they also direct businesses and developers to invest in social media app development.
So, if you are one of those Entrepreneurs or mobile app developers who are looking forward to trying your luck in the world of Social media, it is likely that you must be curious to know how to design your social media app to get better outcomes. Or better say, what features to focus upon to engage users more effectively.
Considering the same, we will look into the best features to consider during social media application development in this article.
So, here we begin.
- Creating a network
Since the basic idea behind developing and using a social media platform is to connect with each other and make a network, do not overlook introducing a simple, quick and effective method of networking. For example, in the case of Facebook, you can search and add friends by entering their name, location or other details in the search bar.
- Easier Login
Social media, being mostly used by the teenagers who are restless, should not have a complicated and tedious login form. Otherwise, all their excitement will end up and they will exit the platform.
So, ensure that you provide them with a simple way of creating an account and starting their journey with your platform.
- Customization
Though you would be looking forward to entertaining your users with different types of features and content, not all users will be interested in having all of them at the same platform. In such a scenario, introducing a customization feature will help them to look into what all they want to appear on their social media profile and what not.
- In-App Messaging
Another feature that must be included in your social media mobile application is In-app messaging. With this feature, the users will be able to send messages to each other privately and share information, files, etc. along with building a bond.
- Real-time Notification and News Feed
While the aforementioned features will be related to the activities what users are performing, they will wish to have a feature by which they could come across what other users in their network are doing.
To enable them know about the same, add a news feed option into your social media application. This feature will give them a collaborative view of what other users have uploaded, shared or commented on – giving them an escape from visiting profiles of every individual.
Besides, introduce a real-time notification system in your social media application to notify them about all the activities in real-time. This will keep them delighted and increase the chances of user engagement and retention on your platform.
- Privacy and Security
With the increasing data breach cases, users have become more conscious about how their data is being accessed and by whom. So, taking the same into consideration, invest in the best mobile app security practices and tools.
And when it comes to introducing privacy and security elements into different parts of your social media application, focus primarily on the messaging and content uploads.
- Ease of Integration with Other Platforms
In the present social media market, almost every social media application is connected to another to make the user’s journey from switching from one platform to another seamless and effective. So, follow the same trend. Integrate all the popular social media platforms to your app that are having similar prime goal and characteristics. For example, if you are designing a social media app for professionals, consider LinkedIn.
So, these were the 7 features that can boost the success level of your social media application. Do consider them during social media app development process and enjoy a better future. And in case you come across any queries, share a comment below.