Should I Build It Should I Build It
01 Jul 2025
Website Builder

I want to build a facebook site for cat owners

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.

Your are here

Creating a social media site for cat owners puts you in a crowded space, categorized as a "Swamp." This means there are existing solutions, but none have truly captured the market's heart. Six similar products exist, indicating a well-trodden path with established competition. The average engagement on similar products is low, with an average of just 1 comment per product, suggesting that these platforms struggle to generate significant user interaction. Without a compelling differentiator, standing out will be tough. You'll need a truly unique approach to avoid becoming another forgotten corner of the internet.

Recommendations

  1. Thoroughly research why existing cat owner social platforms haven't taken off. What are users complaining about? What features are missing? Understand the failures before attempting to build a better mousetrap. Look at the reviews for "Cats of the Web" and "Cato.Social", and understand the criticism. For Cato.Social for example, one user said the product "sucked", dig deeper why, it might give you a clue.
  2. Instead of targeting all cat owners, identify a niche within the cat-loving community. Are you focusing on owners of specific breeds, cats with special needs, or cats involved in specific activities (e.g., therapy cats, show cats)? A narrower focus allows for more tailored features and content.
  3. Explore building tools or services that integrate with existing popular social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram, rather than creating an entirely new platform. A Facebook group or a specialized app that enhances the cat-related experience on larger platforms might be more viable.
  4. Consider adjacent problems within the pet owner space that might be more promising. Perhaps a platform for connecting pet sitters with owners, or a service that curates personalized pet product recommendations based on breed and needs.
  5. Before investing significant time and resources, validate your core assumptions. Conduct surveys, interviews, and focus groups with cat owners to understand their needs and pain points. Does your solution truly address a gap in the market?
  6. Given the low engagement on similar platforms, prioritize features that encourage interaction and content creation. Think contests, challenges, and collaborative storytelling to foster a sense of community. For example, based on the similar product 'I built a website to celebrate the internet's most famous cats', make sure to not have repetitive cat bios, or improve their presentation.
  7. Develop a clear monetization strategy from the outset. Will you rely on advertising, premium features, or partnerships with pet product brands? Ensure your revenue model aligns with the needs and expectations of your target audience.

Questions

  1. What specific unmet need within the cat owner community will your platform address that existing platforms fail to fulfill?
  2. How will you differentiate your platform from the existing competition to attract and retain a loyal user base, especially given the low engagement seen on similar platforms?
  3. What is your plan to achieve significant traction and engagement in a niche already saturated with social media options?

Your are here

Creating a social media site for cat owners puts you in a crowded space, categorized as a "Swamp." This means there are existing solutions, but none have truly captured the market's heart. Six similar products exist, indicating a well-trodden path with established competition. The average engagement on similar products is low, with an average of just 1 comment per product, suggesting that these platforms struggle to generate significant user interaction. Without a compelling differentiator, standing out will be tough. You'll need a truly unique approach to avoid becoming another forgotten corner of the internet.

Recommendations

  1. Thoroughly research why existing cat owner social platforms haven't taken off. What are users complaining about? What features are missing? Understand the failures before attempting to build a better mousetrap. Look at the reviews for "Cats of the Web" and "Cato.Social", and understand the criticism. For Cato.Social for example, one user said the product "sucked", dig deeper why, it might give you a clue.
  2. Instead of targeting all cat owners, identify a niche within the cat-loving community. Are you focusing on owners of specific breeds, cats with special needs, or cats involved in specific activities (e.g., therapy cats, show cats)? A narrower focus allows for more tailored features and content.
  3. Explore building tools or services that integrate with existing popular social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram, rather than creating an entirely new platform. A Facebook group or a specialized app that enhances the cat-related experience on larger platforms might be more viable.
  4. Consider adjacent problems within the pet owner space that might be more promising. Perhaps a platform for connecting pet sitters with owners, or a service that curates personalized pet product recommendations based on breed and needs.
  5. Before investing significant time and resources, validate your core assumptions. Conduct surveys, interviews, and focus groups with cat owners to understand their needs and pain points. Does your solution truly address a gap in the market?
  6. Given the low engagement on similar platforms, prioritize features that encourage interaction and content creation. Think contests, challenges, and collaborative storytelling to foster a sense of community. For example, based on the similar product 'I built a website to celebrate the internet's most famous cats', make sure to not have repetitive cat bios, or improve their presentation.
  7. Develop a clear monetization strategy from the outset. Will you rely on advertising, premium features, or partnerships with pet product brands? Ensure your revenue model aligns with the needs and expectations of your target audience.

Questions

  1. What specific unmet need within the cat owner community will your platform address that existing platforms fail to fulfill?
  2. How will you differentiate your platform from the existing competition to attract and retain a loyal user base, especially given the low engagement seen on similar platforms?
  3. What is your plan to achieve significant traction and engagement in a niche already saturated with social media options?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 6
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 1
  • Net use signal: 11.2%
    • Positive use signal: 23.8%
    • Negative use signal: 12.5%
  • Net buy signal: -12.5%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.0%
    • Negative buy signal: 12.5%

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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The feedback request specifically mentions the 'Furr thing,' which may indicate a narrow focus or a feature requiring particular attention. The user asks for feedback on it so more context is needed on what Furr is.

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