Social Media and Socialising Platforms have become an integral part of today's internet world and some might even consider social media as the current trendsetter. Think about it, the last time you used your mobile phone or laptop then you probably visited a social media platform including WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, or YouTube. 

There has been a huge growth in the number of people using social media apps and the numbers are there to support this. WhatsApp alone has over 2 billion monthly active users. You can make a rough estimate from this figure that one social app alone has so many active users. The numbers are definitely increasing with every passing day and it doesn't look like these numbers are gonna slow down anytime soon. 

If you are looking to enter the world of social media apps then you should know the basics of what makes a social media app successful among its competition. You should know what users are looking for and target the things that big social media platforms don't have and many, many more things. While there are many things involved in making a good social media app, here are some things and features that a social media app must have:

1. Simple and Friendly UI

The first and foremost thing that you should consider while making a social app is a simple and friendly user interface (UI). UI is the way by which users interact with your app and it includes several things including the content, media layout, navigation, input control, etc. Whatever your target audience may be, you should always make sure that your social media has a simple and friendly UI that a 12-year-old and 65 year old can navigate and use the app hassle-free. 

2. Visually Appealing Design

No matter how a social media application may, one of the reasons why they fail to gain any interest from users is because of their poor. No matter how unique and good the in-app features are, if the app is not visually appealing and the design is not an accessible one then such an app isn't gonna take off.

Take this for an example, if you go shopping for a shirt but it isn't visually appealing then you aren't gonna buy it no matter how good the cloth or the stuff is. The same is the case here, the design of the app should be visually appealing without any inconsistent elements that don't blend with the app design to provide a pleasant user experience.  Every good social media app whether it is Instagram, Chatroulette, or Snapchat, has a visually appealing design.

3. Content Sharing Option

Social Media platforms are meant for content sharing and most of the users want to share their daily life moments and things with their network. Content sharing is one of the best features of social media platforms that it allows people to stay connected even if there are living on two opposite poles of the earth and if you want your social media app to succeed then it must have a content-sharing option available where the users can post, share photos & videos along with an option to comment on the content being shared. 

4. Messaging System

Messaging system is as important as a content sharing system because it is one of the top features of social media apps and any social media app is incomplete without the ability to send messages to other users. A good social media app should not only include private messaging but group messaging too since group chats and conversations are popular all over the world. You would find a messaging system on every popular social media platform, even on ones that don't require registration such as Omegle.

5. Real-time Notifications

Real-time notifications are very important for social media platforms and they are one of the key features of social media platforms. Users want to be notified about the activity that is happening on their feed in real-time and this can include when someone messages them when a close friend of theirs posts something, or something significant occurs. Real-time push notifications are a must for any good social media app.

6. Customizable Privacy Settings

Customizable privacy settings are also very important because some users want to share their content publicly while others prefer to keep their content restricted to their network only which may include their friends and family members. Your app should have this feature that allows the users to control who sees their profile, who sees the content they share, how much of their information is publicly available, and other similar things. Users want to have control over the information that is being shared across the network.