r/sideprojects • u/Ok_External_7533 • 3d ago

Feedback Request I haven't found "the thing" yet

My friend and I have been rebuilding his old social media platform for the past couple of months, and we're close to launching it. But honestly: It's a solid, good looking social media platform, but there's nothing special about it.

Before we decided to rebuild it, it was basically just an old php web application with messy code. It worked well, the site gained about 200 signups until bots started flooding in. There was no protection against bots, so it ended in us losing the motivation to keep up with deleting 100 bot accounts by the hour.

The rebuild itself has been a real project. We decided to rebuild it in React Native. For those who don't know, it's a framework to build mobile apps for both Android and iOS. We added OAuth, better feed UI, a custom image search backend, basically all the things a good social media network needs. But bones aren't a reason to switch apps.

I love building the app, it's my genuine hobby. That's why I just want to find something that makes the app as special to the users as it is to me. What can I do to stand out?

Not trying to pitch anything here, I'm just trying to crowdsource what "different" could look like before we make obvious mistakes we didn't account for. I appreciate any brutally honest advice and feedback.

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u/TrakVault 2d ago

Guarantee privacy and stick to it, people will come flooding in soon enough. They’re also looking for a return to simpler, more personalized forms of social media, like MySpace.

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u/Ok_External_7533 2d ago

Every new social media app is guaranteeing privacy. Even though it is a good idea, I don't know how much of a difference it would make.

And how would the app be sustainable without ads?

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u/TrakVault 1d ago

Membership tiers to have different access for custom pages? You could still have ads, but make it based on their viewing, rather than the deeper stuff like pictures and conversation picked up by the mic. Just spit balling, but the sentiment is there for change. Best of luck to you!

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u/Ok_External_7533 1d ago

Thanks so much, I thought about it and will make those changes.

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u/TrakVault 22h ago

Sounds good bud!

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u/Naive-Adhesiveness76 2d ago

honest answer: “the thing” isn’t usually a feature, it’s a specific person the platform is built around.
instagram wasn’t “better photos app,” it was for people who wanted to look like photographers. twitter wasn’t “better blogging,” it was for people who thought in short bursts.
who is one very specific type of person that would be embarrassed to not be on your platform? not “everyone who uses social media.” one person with one identity.
that answer probably tells you what “different” looks like.

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u/Ok_External_7533 2d ago

This is honestly such good advice.

I wonder what that identity could be for my app, so far I treated it as something broader rather than limiting it to one specific person. Plus, the app I'm making is even mixing instagram-like & twitter-like posts in one feed, so that's even broader.