How To Create A Social Media App Like Facebook?

Today social networks are an integral part of everyone’s life. Though not the first, but for sure the most popular social network of contemporaneity is Facebook. Created by Harvard students in 2004 for their University only, it spread beyond campuses to different nations, and in 2012 the network registered a billion users. Today, the number of daily active Facebook users exceeds 3 billion, and it is expected to cross six billion by 2027.

So, there is obviously a growth trajectory and potential in such a globally-acclaimed social network. Today we are going to see how to create a social media app like Facebook and enjoy the benefits. But a little overview will come first.

An Overview of the Facebook App

The social media platform has a website, a mobile app, and a messenger app. As with other social media platforms, the app is the most popular. So, there is a point to develop an app to complement your social media website.

Over a third of the world’s population uses Facebook, spending on average 2.31 hours per day on social media and messaging apps. Over 81 percent of users access the network through their mobile devices. From a business point of view, 93% of SMM specialists use Facebook Ads. In 2023, Meta Platforms generated US $133 billion in revenues through its Family of Apps segment. In the January-March 2024, Meta Platforms Inc. earned $12.37 billion, or $4.71 per share. That’s more than twice up compared to the same period a year earlier (US $5.71 billion, and $2.20 per share relatively).

We hope you’ve got rid of all your doubts and realize it’s a viable moment to launch a social media application now.

It is a viable time to launch a social media app of your own. Stay tuned and discover how to make an app like Facebook and what benefits it can bring you.

The Main Benefits of Creating an App for Social Networking Like Facebook

Though Meta is ruling the present-day social media realm, the market is evergreen and ever-growing. So, put your doubts aside, and do not be afraid to bring your innovative ideas to life. To give you some courage, we want to highlight the major advantages of creating an app like Facebook. By launching a social media application you can:

Connect directly with your audience

Due to the high demand for social media interaction, the application can bring you closer to people. So, no matter whether you are going to create a public app or a mobile solution for a certain audience segment, you can connect directly with all those users, providing them access to your platform.

Collect better data and insights

The modern era of digitalization has its own gold, which is precious datum. Social media platforms encourage people to share multifaceted details: personal and demographic info, employment data, their preferences manifested in likes and dislikes, and much more. By collecting and analyzing the provided user information, you can get valuable insights. With the insights gained you can create new opportunities, develop a business by making smart well-weight decisions, and even offer valuable analytics to those who may be interested.

Earn the advertising revenue

Modern brands actively promote themselves on social media platforms. We mentioned Facebook's impressive statistics on this above. The network generates its revenue primarily from advertising. You can also join this stream and earn money through advertising. All you need is a platform and a good understanding of your audience’s interests and demands.

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Key Features of a Social Networking Application Like Facebook

So, while you already know what you need a social media app like Facebook for and how to benefit from it, let’s speak about the major features of such a solution. Knowing what to implement will help you to better understand how to build an app like Facebook.

First of all, it needs to be mentioned that Facebook has plenty of supporting services, tools, apps, and platforms for both individual and business accounts. Consider adding up such features, like a messenger app, Ads Manager, or Business Manager for users' convenience.

However, the major functionality should include:

Simple, hassle-free registration and login. Add various options via email, google account, tel number, etc. People should easily get into your app and feel comfortable using it.

Convenient management of a user profile. Allow profile customization and extensive modifications. Modern users value personalization, and such a positive experience will attract more users and keep the audience loyal.

Elegant, yet simple user interface. Put some effort into creating a straightforward, yet attractive UI. It will help enhance usability and keep users on the platform.

Customization. Allow users to like, unlike, follow and unfollow pages, and also to manage their friend list, add, remove, edit, or categorize connections, and groups. Consider creating pages, groups, and business pages.

News feed. Recent news and updates can be accessed through the news feed. It’s a valuable feature for a user to be aware of the current events. Think of the private groups and the implementation of public chats.

File sharing. Text content is out of the question, but audio, video, and image integration is now a critical feature of social media networks. So, sharing media content should also go without discussions, and integrate also stickers and emojis. They have become an important part of modern-day communication and are still gaining popularity.

Messaging feature. The essence of social media networks is communication, so the feature of instant chatting will only raise user engagement and the popularity of your application.

Push Notifications. Real-time notifications are a feature that is highly valued by present-day users. People want to have their finger on the pulse, being updated on important and interesting issues gives them this sense of being aware.

So, push notifications, customizable according to user preferences, can help you increase the engagement of users and enhance revenue for brands.

This can be considered a list of key features that are well-known and most common for social media networks. However, you can also consider the other features that are popular and engaging. To prompt you some ideas, we’ll mention some of them:

• Control over posts and profile viewing
• Page, group, and friend suggestions based on data,
• Comments and reactions to posts,
• Stories posting,
• Live streaming, audio and video,
• Event creation and invitation sending,
• Geolocation and position-sharing
• Search and filters for finding friends, events, etc.
• Selling goods or services on marketplace groups,
• Create fund-raising goals and raise money,
• In-app advertisement support,
• Payments integration, and much more.

You can search for inspiration on the most popular networks, study their apps, and then figure out how to create an app like Facebook of your own.

How to Make an App Like Facebook?

Following a step-by-step algorithm will help you craft an app like Facebook and avoid unnecessary movements and expenses on the way. So, let’s start.

List your goals

Careful research should be a vital component of any project at the very start of it. Extensive market, audience, and competitor analysis will help you figure out the key concepts and goals of your social media application. You can use the results to form your vision and discuss it with stakeholders. Figure out what problem your app will address.

• Will it be global or local, targeting a certain user segment?
• Which user pains will it close?
• How will it stand out among the existing competitor solutions?
• What will your USP be?
• What part of the audience will you target?

Having answered this question, you’ll get a certain list of goals to close with your project and a kind of road map to carry it out. This step will also help you see which resources are needed and where you can find them. When this part is clear, you can proceed with technical details and duties.

Create a list of the must-have features

We have described the key features of the Facebook-like app above, create a list of your own. Think about interface design, functionality, security, and customization options. It will help you prioritize features, determine the tech stack, and see what to implement in different app iterations. Seeing it, you can proceed to the next step.

Build wireframes, prototypes, or mockups

No matter, if you are going to create an MVP or a full-fledged product, wireframing, prototyping, or creating mockups, will help you visualize the goals set in the first step and the features listed in the second one. On the one hand, it will help you better see the product, on the other hand, you will be able to share your vision with stakeholders and get their feedback.

Let’s look closer at each notion: a wireframe is a sketch of your future app, a mock-up contains colors and animated pictures, and the prototype allows user interactions. The latter demonstrates the way of interaction with the application, buttons, and screens.

Developing a prototype you get the chance to make changes to the design before coding and to fine-tune the features and functions of the product, enhancing its market validation.

Develop your application

As soon as the above step is finished, and the prototype is fully agreed upon, you can proceed to backend and frontend development. There are several ways how to make an app like Facebook. The main choice lies between developing an application yourself and then you can go for a no-code social media app builder or learn programming and proceed with a low-code development.

However, to create a really competitive social media application, it’s reasonable to hire a professional development team. It will require time and money investments on your part, however the result will be worth it. An expert team can understand your goals, evaluate your app features, choose the best tech stack, and prompt some cost-effective development solutions. Knowing the challenges that may await you in the process of app creation, experts can deliver the social media app you have in your mind.

Publish your app

The final stage of any development journey is publishing the application and getting it approved on marketplaces, like App Store and Google Play. At Stfalcon we take care of this step for our clients, because it’s important to take care of all legal aspects, Privacy Policies, and Terms of Use. Our team is well-trained to accomplish this task as well as capable of uploading an APK file, the app's metadata, some images, and an engaging description. As soon as all this is done all you need is to wait and get feedback from the users, being ready to fix bugs and correct mistakes in your software.

How Much Does It Cost to Make an App Like Facebook?

This is the most common question without a definite answer. Creating a social media app be ready to invest an amount of US $100000 and above. Multifaceted factors influence the cost of development, design and development complexity, platforms and operation systems targeted, developers and form of cooperation chosen, and much more. Variable integrations, advanced features, business functionality, and project timeline also matter. The good news is that the costs will be covered with interests as soon as your product wins the market.

How Stfalcon Can Help with Social Media App Development like Facebook

Stfalcon has 14+ years of experience in web and mobile development. Our expertise is acknowledged every year by Clutch company through the inclusion of Stfalcon in the Clutch 1000 list of the leading B2B service providers worldwide.

But we not only know how to develop an app like Facebook or any other app, having a rich portfolio of cases, but also meet the ISO 9001 standard.

We have developed several social media-related apps. One is a service app in the sphere of tourism and dating that helps to quickly find a fellow traveler for long-distance trips or a short vacation.

Read the full case study

Another application is a dating app for Android and iOS that connects people looking for relationships.

Read the full case study

What’s more, we have created ChatKit, an open-source library containing UI elements, for the simple realization of moderately complex chats.

Read the full case study

But that’s not all, Stfalcon is one of 3 Ukrainian companies representing Ukraine in the Google Play #WeArePlay Campaign. Our company is one of 126 inspirational independent entrepreneurs from all over Europe sharing their app development experiences. In such a way, we prove that Ukrainian business is competitive on the international market, even in conditions of full-scale war.

Conclusion

To take a cue from Facebook today is a smart and reasonable decision, though it requires time, effort, and financial resources. However, your innovative social media app development with Stfalcon can become one of the keys to its success. Contact us right now, and we’ll figure out the best way to bring your idea to life. All our technical and human resources are at your disposal as well as the expertise and experience we have.

If you still doubt, let’s answer some common questions.