Hire a team to develop a social network

Social networks connect billions of people around the world, and according to statistics, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or TikTok apps are installed on every second smartphone.

And despite the high competition, there is always room for new and interesting projects in this market.

One example is the gastronomic social network Eatagram, which our team recently released.

In this article, we’ll show you firsthand how to take advantage of this trend and launch a profitable social network. What technologies will be required for this and how to hire the optimal development team.

Investments should always pay off. Therefore, before starting the development of the technical part, you need to decide how exactly the social network will generate profit. Here we propose to consider the main monetization strategies used by market leaders. There are only two of them:

• Advertising revenue. This model is followed by Facebook and Instagram. Its meaning lies in the fact that the owners of business profiles can use the audience of the social network to promote their own brands. With this approach, several important points should be taken into account: provide companies with the opportunity to choose the most suitable target audience using a filter system, ensure maximum security of user data, and implement a customizable and transparent reporting system on the effectiveness of each advertising campaign.

From a technical point of view, this is a rather voluminous work, but the result is quite justified. For example, Facebook earns about $94.69 billion a year from such advertising.

• Providing premium services. This monetization model is used by LinkedIn. Here, unlike the first option, the profit of the social network is generated not only by business, but also by ordinary users. For example, a premium subscription may open up more options for self-expression or profile customization, hide information about which accounts the user is following, etc. There are quite a few options here.

There are different types of social networks: for messaging or news – Facebook, LinkedIn, for creating and distributing content – TikTok, Snapchat, or finding like-minded people – Reddit, Quora. Depending on the chosen format, you will need to implement different, narrowly focused functionality. And for sure it will be quite voluminous. Therefore, within the framework of this article, we propose to consider only the main modules, the development of which is definitely indispensable:

• Registration form. It’s the first thing visitors see. It should be as simple and concise as possible so that the user can access the content as quickly as possible. Therefore, fields such as place of residence, education, and other secondary details should be moved to the profile setting. Ideally, you need to add the ability to register and authorize using Google or Facebook accounts.
• Profile setup and customization. This is a place where users can share personal information with other members of the social network. If you are planning to generate ad revenue as a monetization strategy, it is very important to motivate your audience to fill in this data thoroughly and truthfully.

• Message exchange. Instant messaging is the backbone of any social network. To implement this functionality, the IRC protocol is perfect, which can also be used with P2P networks. This approach will greatly reduce the load on the server, since the data storage will be the devices of the users themselves.
• Creation and processing of content. If your social network focuses on the distribution of content, then such functionality will be especially important. Adding filters, stickers, overlaying text and music on videos will all help users create more engaging content, which will also affect the popularity of the social network itself.
• Push notifications. Short pop-up notifications not only increase user engagement, but also allow them to always stay up to date with important events that happen to their profile.

From a technical point of view, a social network is a large and time-consuming project that is extremely sensitive to details. Therefore, the commercial success of the entire product largely depends on the professionalism of the team. Let’s talk in more detail about what kind of specialists our company can provide for the implementation of the social network.

Project manager

This is the main person on the project, who is responsible for developing and bringing a quality product to the market. He manages finances and deadlines, organizes the work of the team, implements methodologies and is in touch with the customer throughout the life cycle of the social network.

UX designers

They design the user experience and impressions that the user receives when interacting with the social network. Its main task is to make the product as comfortable, convenient and understandable for all visitors as possible.

UI designers

They create the visual part of the social network: draw screens, buttons and icons, select fonts and do everything to make it look attractive and uniform. In fact, UI is one of the main components of UX.

Front-end developers

They develop the client part of the social network, which works directly in the browser. Frontenders can use static HTML / CSS / JavaScript technologies or reactive frameworks – Vue.js and React.js in their work. Most often, the second option is given priority, since it significantly improves the performance of the product.

Mobile developers

They are involved in creating a mobile version of the social network, and are developing the Frontend part of the application. Their technological stack directly depends on the operating system where the project will be deployed:

• For IOS, the Swift language.
• For Andriod – languages Kotlin, Java.

In addition to native technologies, our team can also use the Flutter cross-platform framework and the Dart language. This will significantly save the budget, but at the same time you will have to compromise on performance.

Backend developers

They develop the backend, or the server part of the social network, which is responsible for storing, processing and providing data to the client at the request of the user. Their tasks include setting up servers, building database architecture, working with network protocols, and performing API integrations.

The backender technology stack can consist of Python, PHP, Java, C++ programming languages and Django/Flask/Yii2/Laravel frameworks.

ANNS developers

Create ANNs, or simply artificial neural networks that are able to self-learn and make decisions on their own. In fact, this is a variant of the implementation of artificial intelligence, which uses a biological approach in calculations.

QA engineers

They are responsible for ensuring that the most prepared product that does not contain errors enters the market. To do this, they create test scripts, write autotests and control the fixing of bugs.

The life cycle of a social network consists of 6 main stages, which are carried out according to the iterative Scrum methodology. Let’s consider them in more detail:

• Planning and gathering information. First of all, you need to find an original idea, define the concept of a social network and the platform on which it will work – web, mobile or desktop.
• Design. One of the most important stages, during which different ideas are tested, a product prototype, technical documentation and interface warframes are created. In fact, at the output we get the framework of the social network, on which the entire further production process is based.
• GUI development. UI designers prepare product mockups and fill previously approved warframes with colors, fonts, graphics, and illustrations.

As a result, the social network acquires a tangible and attractive appearance.

• Technical development. This is the most time-consuming stage, during which the functional code is written, the front-end and back-end of the social network are developed, and the client-server architecture is built.
• QA. After the development is completed, the social network goes through several levels of testing. This allows you to identify and eliminate all possible problems even before the release.
• Launch and development. After the release, the social network must constantly continue to evolve. Only in this way can it constantly remain in demand in the market. To do this, after the release, we transfer the project to professional technical support.

A social network is a technically complex product that requires serious investment. However, with high-quality technical performance and a well-chosen monetization model, such a product is able to bring an impressive and constant income to the owner.

The AVADA MEDIA team has a successful case of developing and bringing to market a profitable social network. To implement such a project, we are ready to provide an already formed team of specialists with experience in working together, which will help you design and translate an idea of any complexity into reality.