Ideas for a profitable ad-free social network
For a while, I have been thinking about what I would do differently if I was given the opportunity to build a new social network fro the ground up. I want to build a smaller more intimate network that would have value no matter how small it was (avoiding the need for a networking effect).
My idea is for a product that allows individuals, families and close friends to share photos, videos and text content. In place of a traditional profile or timeline, you would get a space that would become a kind of living archive of yourself or your family.
If any of this sounds interesting to you please take a few minutes to view my demo video and share a few words of feedback it would help me greatly as I evaluate this idea.
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I was about to hate on this just from the post (because everyone is trying to start a social media app), but then I watch the demo (in full) and I really loved it! I see a ton of value in it 😎. As a tid bit my friends only use Snap Chat to share random photos / videos, we don’t do it because we like Snap Chat we do it just because it’s super easy to share random snippets of life with each other.
If you need any more advice or UX testing feel free to email me - happy to help.
Thanks! I really appreciate the feedback. I am still trying to validate the idea but as things move along I will definitely reach out to you when I have some more concrete designs down.
I was skeptical too at first, but you're right something like this should exist. What incentive would users have to sign up for it if all their friends are currently on big name social media platforms?
A few incentives. I think the largest one is that there is an inherent value to the platform without having all your friends on it. Since the focus is more on intimate friend groups and families you only need a few people using a place for it to be worthwhile.
Additionally, there is a bit of inherent value even if nobody signs up since I see each of these places as a kind of living archive you can use it as a journaling app or a place to store photos to be easily printed in book form later on.
Finally, I think the cost of switching is pretty low because your friends don't actually have to sign up, we will provide a secure link to anyone whose email you enter and they will have the same permissions and access to your place as anyone else.