Should I Build It Should I Build It
09 Apr 2025
Android Social Network Social Media

a social media app for all people and all friends

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Run Away

Multiple attempts have failed with clear negative feedback. Continuing down this path would likely waste your time and resources when better opportunities exist elsewhere.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.

Your are here

Launching a "social media app for all people and all friends" puts you in a crowded and challenging space. Our analysis of 19 similar product launches reveals a "Run Away" category, which means multiple attempts have failed in this area, often with clear negative feedback. With so many social media options already available, it's tough to stand out. The average engagement (5 comments) on similar products is medium, suggesting that while there's some interest, it's not overwhelmingly positive. Given the history, your idea faces significant headwinds, and pivoting or rethinking your approach might be necessary to avoid wasting time and resources.

Recommendations

  1. Thoroughly analyze the negative comments from similar failed social media app launches. Understanding why people rejected those apps, as highlighted in the similar product analyses, can provide crucial insights into potential pitfalls to avoid. For example, some users criticized 'This is what social media could be' for a cumbersome interface and redundancy, and 'Socially' for GDPR compliance issues. Use this feedback to identify what NOT to do.
  2. Instead of targeting "all people and all friends," consider narrowing your focus to a specific niche or demographic. This could involve catering to a particular hobby, interest, or profession. A more defined target audience can make marketing and user acquisition more effective. For example, 'Piips' focuses on hyperlocal social interaction, and while it had some interest, it also received criticism for premature monetization.
  3. Explore how your app could solve a problem that existing social media platforms don't address effectively. This could involve focusing on privacy, mental health, or a unique type of content creation or interaction. If you've already built the underlying tech, see if it can be repurposed for an adjacent market. Can the tech be used for a more niche social network, or perhaps a business to business application, as opposed to a general purpose social network?
  4. Talk to people who have tried similar social media apps, especially those that didn't succeed. Ask them what they liked, disliked, and what they actually need from a social platform. Understanding their pain points and unmet needs can help you refine your idea or identify a new opportunity. For example, many product launches had requests for platform support, so be sure to cover all of your bases.
  5. Based on your findings, consider pivoting your idea to address a more specific problem or target a different audience. This could involve changing the core functionality of the app, focusing on a different niche, or developing a new business model. Then, iterate and test again.

Questions

  1. Given the numerous failed attempts in the broad social media space, what specific problem does your app solve that existing platforms don't, and how can you validate this need before investing significant resources?
  2. How will you differentiate your app from established social media giants and the many failed startups in this category, and what unique value proposition will attract and retain users in a crowded market?
  3. Considering the criticisms of similar platforms regarding user experience, privacy, and monetization strategies, what concrete steps will you take to address these concerns and build a platform that users trust and value?

Your are here

Launching a "social media app for all people and all friends" puts you in a crowded and challenging space. Our analysis of 19 similar product launches reveals a "Run Away" category, which means multiple attempts have failed in this area, often with clear negative feedback. With so many social media options already available, it's tough to stand out. The average engagement (5 comments) on similar products is medium, suggesting that while there's some interest, it's not overwhelmingly positive. Given the history, your idea faces significant headwinds, and pivoting or rethinking your approach might be necessary to avoid wasting time and resources.

Recommendations

  1. Thoroughly analyze the negative comments from similar failed social media app launches. Understanding why people rejected those apps, as highlighted in the similar product analyses, can provide crucial insights into potential pitfalls to avoid. For example, some users criticized 'This is what social media could be' for a cumbersome interface and redundancy, and 'Socially' for GDPR compliance issues. Use this feedback to identify what NOT to do.
  2. Instead of targeting "all people and all friends," consider narrowing your focus to a specific niche or demographic. This could involve catering to a particular hobby, interest, or profession. A more defined target audience can make marketing and user acquisition more effective. For example, 'Piips' focuses on hyperlocal social interaction, and while it had some interest, it also received criticism for premature monetization.
  3. Explore how your app could solve a problem that existing social media platforms don't address effectively. This could involve focusing on privacy, mental health, or a unique type of content creation or interaction. If you've already built the underlying tech, see if it can be repurposed for an adjacent market. Can the tech be used for a more niche social network, or perhaps a business to business application, as opposed to a general purpose social network?
  4. Talk to people who have tried similar social media apps, especially those that didn't succeed. Ask them what they liked, disliked, and what they actually need from a social platform. Understanding their pain points and unmet needs can help you refine your idea or identify a new opportunity. For example, many product launches had requests for platform support, so be sure to cover all of your bases.
  5. Based on your findings, consider pivoting your idea to address a more specific problem or target a different audience. This could involve changing the core functionality of the app, focusing on a different niche, or developing a new business model. Then, iterate and test again.

Questions

  1. Given the numerous failed attempts in the broad social media space, what specific problem does your app solve that existing platforms don't, and how can you validate this need before investing significant resources?
  2. How will you differentiate your app from established social media giants and the many failed startups in this category, and what unique value proposition will attract and retain users in a crowded market?
  3. Considering the criticisms of similar platforms regarding user experience, privacy, and monetization strategies, what concrete steps will you take to address these concerns and build a platform that users trust and value?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 19
  • Engagement: Medium
    • Average number of comments: 5
  • Net use signal: -7.0%
    • Positive use signal: 5.7%
    • Negative use signal: 12.8%
  • Net buy signal: -4.2%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.7%
    • Negative buy signal: 4.9%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

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