Member profiles are critical for storing the user's data, displaying the activities inside the
social network, content contribution, and make the user discoverable for networking.
Activity feed is important to keep the members informed about what's happening inside the site.
Members can interact with the content (comments, upvotes, follow, etc.) based on interest.
Groups help you categorize content and foster connection between members with
a shared passion. Hence, groups acts as one of the key channels for new member discovery.
The user-generated content inside the social network must be categorized for
efficient search. Also, the community layout must be customized to showcase the relevant content.
You must own the data generated in the community. That's why your social network must allow you
to easily import and export all the data. Consider exporting members and content for advanced analysis.
Your social network should allow members to create one or two types of content at the very least.
This content can Q&A, polls, short-updates exactly like Facebook or long-form articles like Medium.
Gamification plays a key role in keeping members engaged and motivating them. For instance, you
should have the mechanism to boost the reputation score of members based on good quality contribution.
Keeping the social network free of spam and negative elements ensures that other members feel safe.
Also, members should be empowered to report issues and the community guidelines must be enforceable.
There would be different types of networking -- a member might simply follow another member or form
two members might form a mutual friendship. The network might have public membership or invite-only membership.
It is important to keep track of the community health and get insights on the member behavior at a
granular level. Ensure that your social network offers the capability to measure the key metrics.
There must be a robust tool to keep the members updated about the important activities in the
community and their profile. Notifications can be sent via email, inside the site, messaging apps, and more.
Your social network site must integrate with other popular third-party tools and expose a comprehensive
API to build any kind of customization for smooth data transfer and process automation.
SaaS | Self-hosted | CMS+Plugin | Custom-built solution | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Customizability | Low to high | Medium to high | Medium to high | High |
Cost | Low to medium | Medium | Low to medium | Very high |
Time to market | Very low | Low to medium | Low to medium | High |
Technical expertise needed | Low to medium | Medium to high | Medium to high | Very High |
Data export | Available | Available | Available | Available |
Security threat | Low | High | Very high | Low |