How to Build a Social Media App – Make Your Own Social Network Platform in 2024

1. How Facebook Livestreams to 800,000 Viewers Simultaneously

In 2016, Facebook launched a feature that allows people to share videos in real time. The traffic pattern in live videos is unlike regular videos. There is a steep rise in the initial traffic. The traffic in live streams is also very irregular. It gets much more traffic than standard videos, but the traffic can also suddenly drop. This unusual traffic puts a significant load on the caching system. To prevent overloading the system, Facebook distributes traffic to points of presence (PoPs) around the world.

Fig: Facebook LiveStreams Architecture

Within the PoPs, there are two layers. One is a layer of HTTP proxies, and another is a layer of cache. Viewers request a segment from an HTTP proxy. If the segment is in the cache, it is returned. Otherwise, a request for the segment is sent to the data center. Since different parts are stored in various caches, the load is balanced. The load for each PoP is measured, and the user is directed to the closest PoP with sufficient capacity. Load predicting algorithms are crucial to this process.

2.How Twitter Handles 3000 Images Per Second

Twitter achieved this insane feat by decoupling media upload from tweeting. This gave them a lot of flexibility in how an upload was handled. The client talks to TFE (Twitter Front End), and TFE talks to Image Service. The Image Service adds the data into a Metadata store. Then it creates a unique identifier called mediaId for the media. MediaId is used as a reference to handle the media. Twitter also made media uploads segmentable and resumable.

Fig: Twitter architecture

First, the client initializes the upload session with the upload API. Then, the backend will give it a mediaId. This mediaId is used for the rest of the session. Each image is divided into many segments. These segments are appended using the API. Once the upload is completed, it is finalized, and the media is ready to be used. Each segment can be retried. Therefore, this method is more resilient to network failures.

Benefits of Creating Your Own Social Media App

Building your social media network can have numerous benefits for your business and for you as an individual. It allows you to reach and build your community and gives you the ability to interact and build relationships on your terms without worrying about the existing algorithm-hungry and low-reach Social Media Apps.

Here are 6 Benefits of Building Your Social Media Network

• Allows you to interact and create more direct relationships with your audience
  Building and reaching out to the audience becomes easy as compared to existing Social Media Apps. Having your Social Media App is like cutting out the middleman and algorithms for better reach where you can be heard by your audience without any rules and limitations.
• Allows you to have a rich and deeper understanding of your community
  Existing social media platforms are becoming more like advertising apps than Social Media Apps. With the issues of low reach and difficulty in building new communities, these apps can force you to spend money on advertising to reach out to the right audience instead of building your network organically. When you have your own Social Media App, you are in the driver’s seat which gives you the freedom to build and reach out to your audience on your terms. It also gives you access to valuable data about your audience who are genuinely interested in you and your community.
• Allows you to create more innovative and creative content for your community
  Having a Social Media App allows you to share creative content and innovative ideas based on what you want your audience to see. Unlike Twitter which has a character limit, or Instagram which has a size limit on uploading photos and videos, having a personal social media network can remove these barriers and allow you to showcase your creative and innovative side without worrying about rules and limitations. Since designing and developing your own social media app gives you control over the design, look and feel of your app.
• Selling your products and services can become easier
  Monetization of personal brands and communities on Social Media Apps is booming. People are selling their products and services on digital marketplaces like Facebook. Having a customized Social Media App allows you to monetize your brand/product/service on your terms without the rules and regulations of existing Social Media Apps. Having a customized social media app can help you to earn money on your terms.
• Say goodbye to dying reach and hello to your audience
  Social Media Apps are filled with creators and businesses who are trying to sell or monetize these social networks. They are a constant war of attention and reach among thousands of creators and businesses. Since these apps work on algorithms that decide what to show to people, it can sometimes become overwhelming to build your own business or community.
  Having a custom social network solves this issue and helps you to reach all of your audience without worrying about the complex algorithms.
• Allows you to have a distraction-free space
  Social media networks are bombarded with noise and distractions with people posting about random things which drags the attention of users. Having a custom Social Media App gives you the freedom to avoid these distractions and allows you to show your content to the right audience without worrying about low reach and less attention.

Making Money From a Social Media App

Monetization has become the most popular social media tool for creators, businesses, and communities. Monetizing existing Social Media Apps can be easy as compared to building your custom app which requires investment and planning but that doesn’t mean you can’t make money on your own Social Media App. 

Here are some ways that can help you to monetize your work on your custom social media network

• Paid subscriptions
  We’ve seen numerous communities and businesses offering a paid subscription to their users in return for exclusive content. The content that these communities and businesses provide is of high quality, which persuades the user to pay for the subscription. Having a custom Social Media App allows you to do the same, having an existing community of users, you can offer high-value content to the audience who are interested in your work. For example, you can offer them valuable and exclusive content like courses, build discussion groups with expert panelists, etc.
• Selling your brand’s products
  There are an endless number of brands that have built and enhanced their presence in front of their audience through social media. Having a personalized app can help you to do the same but with even more resources. You can either sell directly to your community members through product links or integrate an online store like Shopify in your app, which can make it easier for the users to buy from you.
• Sponsored Content
  One of the most popular ways of monetizing is sponsored content. Once you have built a community that is engaging with your content and is interested in similar content or services, you can allow sponsored content from other businesses as well, which can help you to make more money. Just remember that the sponsored content should be in line with and match your community’s interests, otherwise, it can backfire quickly.
• In-app purchases
  Allowing your audience to access special features or providing them with some special content or digital products is a way to monetize your Social Media App. People pay for these things, it’s just that you have to offer something valuable to them as a course, ebook, or a special feature of your app.
• Events and activities
  You can also promote events and activities on your social media platforms. Finding out similar events based on the interests of your audience can help you to monetize these events. You can also promote other business events that are similar to your audience’s interests.

How to Build a User Base for Your Social Media App?

• App Store Optimization (ASO)
  If you want users to download and use your app, the first step is to optimize it for app stores so it can be visible to your users. If the users can’t find your app, how they will know that your social media app even exists?
• Leveraging your website
  You can use banners and creatives to drive users from your website to your app.
• Content marketing
  Having an effective content marketing strategy can help a lot, as posting content like blogs, infographics, videos, images, etc related to the interests of your audience can lead to engagement which can then be turned into awareness where you can persuade the user and direct them to download your app.
• Leverage existing social media networks
  It is a great way to market and get people to know about your new app. If you already have a good user base on any social media platform, you can leverage that and promote your app on these platforms.
• Running ad campaigns
  Ad campaigns are the easiest way to reach out to a vast audience without building a community organically. You can promote your app on multiple platforms, segment audiences based on their interest, and target them with ads related to your app, which can lead to downloads for your custom Social Media App.
• Leveraging influencers
  Reaching out to influencers based on your niche can help a lot which can help you to promote your app in front of the right audience.
• Public Relations (PR)
  Leveraging bloggers and journalists is a great way to grab the attention of your audience and make them aware of your app. Just keep in mind that you reach out to the right bloggers and journalists who are related and write about things that are similar to your app.