Thanks to the emergence of Facebook, the social network model has established itself as the benchmark for collaborative communication. Moreover, the desire to create a social network has sprouted in the minds of many people. However, the social network is not a new model; it is essentially an extranet, bringing together multiple users and offering – and this is the real novelty – advanced features for dialogue or sharing.
If you are tempted to share your ideas through this mode of communication, here are some steps to follow to successfully create a social network.
1. Define the identity of your community
The starting point for creating your social network: rigorously define its identity. What will be the foundation of your community in which members will recognize themselves? A hobby? A shared history? A way of being? Defining the identity of your future social network is the best way for its future members to join it in the long term.
2. Integrate the existing community
Strictly speaking, you don't create a community. At most, you unite a pre-existing community. The second step to follow in order to create a social network is to unite its members by meeting them where they are. This could be on a Facebook page, a discussion forum, a blog, a YouTube page, etc. First, you need to introduce yourself, adopt its codes and best practices, and finally, you can share your project and generate engagement. This integration phase is necessary for the co-optation of your social network.
3. Create the website for your social network
Take advantage of the integration time with the community to create your social network's website. This is an opportunity to think about the features that community members expect. Do they want private spaces? Sharing capabilities? Instant messaging? An announcement area? These are the functional questions you can address with step 2.
Write the specifications
Once these features are defined, they need to be formalized in a specifications document. This document will list all the functional requirements of your project and explain their purpose. If you are hiring a service provider to design your social network, the specifications will allow the professional to provide a quote.
This step is crucial even if it may seem tedious. Too often, projects start without any preliminary framework document. These projects often fail: an idea is not enough to make a project. It needs to be formalized.
What budget to create a social network?
The budget depends on the number of required features and their complexity. It is sometimes difficult to establish a clear budget for a large-scale project, as it contains many unknowns.
A good way to proceed is to start by defining the framework of a prototype, incorporating the essential features of your project. In the startup environment, this is referred to as an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). This prototype will allow you to test your idea and determine which features are truly essential. Indeed, it is often seen that among all the developed features, some are rarely used and probably did not deserve to be integrated into the project.
The advantage of an MVP is that it also helps limit the initial budget. To design a social network MVP, you can expect a starting base between €10,000 and €15,000.
4. Communicate with the existing community
Now that your website is created (step 3) and you have made yourself known within the community (step 2), all that remains is to communicate about the creation of your new social network. For this, nothing is simpler than sharing it on the platforms where your community is located (Facebook pages, forums, blogs, etc.). Since you are part of it, you will not fail to highlight the benefits of your platform and how it meets the aspirations of community members.
5. Appoint leaders
The final step in creating a social network is to give it autonomy. In short, ensure it operates without you. To achieve this, you will need to delegate moderation rights, particularly to active users. These users, also known as "Power Users," are those who participate the most, calm debates, and occasionally remind others of the social network's guidelines and boundaries. Don't hesitate to enlist these users in your cause by making them moderators who will support you. This will energize them and ensure your social network has far more effective moderation than if you were the sole captain on board.
Now that you know these 5 steps, all that's left is to get started. And if some of you have already embarked on this adventure, feel free to share your experiences in the comments.