i'm really scared because i don't know if i'm on the right path, does someone can offer me guidance ?

[Naïm Rhioui]

I'm 16 years old and i've been learning code for a few months now, i learned HTML and CSS (I still have many things to improve) and now i'm on JavaScript and i'm struggling a lot.
My goal is to make a social media and to achieve financial freedom as quick as possible, but when i see how difficult it is, doutes and fear completely overwhelme me and so i'm asking:

Is it possible to create a social media alone ? Wouldn't it take too long to be created ?

 

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[Mikkel]

Does there need to be another social media platform? If so, what new value could you provide?

Nothing is impossible, but you are up against some stiff competition and a high barrier to entry. If you are already having doubts, you might want to ask yourself why.

 

[Naïm Rhioui]

Does there need to be another social media platform? If so, what new value could you provide?

Nothing is impossible, but you are up against some stiff competition and a high barrier to entry. If you are already having doubts, you might want to ask yourself why.

I know this is a really competitive place but most of my fear is about the development of the social media i don't want to struggle for years and years with something that i'm not sure will work.

 

[Mikkel]

...i don't want to struggle for years and years with something that i'm not sure will work.

You don't need to fully build out a social media platform before you launch. If you are to do this, you would want to create a minimal viable product(MVP) first. That way you don't have to spend your whole life creating a product just to find out no one cares.

Most people don't care about the "development" of social media. They are already addicted to the algorithm. You basically have to be more addictive them FB and TikTok. At least that is my opinion on a topic that I know only superficially.

 

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[Tau Ceti]

Social media or two sided market places are really hard to get off the ground because their value comes from the number of users on the platform.

If you have social media where there are no other users than yourself then the value is exactly 0.
If you have a social media where there are a lot more content creators than content consumers, then the creators will leave (not enough eye balls).
If you have too many consumers and not enough creators, then the consumers will leave (not enough new content to keep them on a platform)

The same is true with the two sided market place like for example: Vinted. Both segments of your user base need to grow at roughly the same pace to make it viable.

Even if you manage that, you then need to deal with:
- take down requests
- scammers
- harassment
- content moderation
- account takeovers
- and so on..

IMHO if this is your first project I would stay away from it.

To pull it off you need a lot of knowledge in terms of software engineering, a lot of time(can you commit to this full time?) and money.

Running a social media company cost a lot of $$$$

If you are just starting out, try to find a simpler project and then if it takes off and if the project makes it possible, you can start adding social media features to it later, like for example, follow/unfollow functionality, DM, subscriptions, personal feeds and so on...

As for why I am telling you this and why you should believe me, well, I work for a 2 sided market place/ social media app during my day job.

I have seen first hand what it takes to create such a company and keep it running. It is hard.

But everyone started somewhere so if you think you can pull it off and if you don't scare so easily then, by all means, just give it a shot.

In any case it will be a valuable experience.

 

[matt1393]

I am 15 years old and i have been learning html ,CSS and JavaScript for the last month now i find it difficult to learn but im gonna keep trying

 

[mrgileo]

I'm 16 years old and i've been learning code for a few months now, i learned HTML and CSS (I still have many things to improve) and now i'm on JavaScript and i'm struggling a lot.
My goal is to make a social media and to achieve financial freedom as quick as possible, but when i see how difficult it is, doutes and fear completely overwhelme me and so i'm asking:

Is it possible to create a social media alone ? Wouldn't it take too long to be created ?

There is no right path.

Simple questions:

"Is this the fastest way I can get to where I need to be (with clean hands)?"
"Can I do this every day?"

If yes to both, get moving. Don't waste your time.

P.S: I won't be answering your question about building a social media network. At your age I had the same dream. Ask yourself the above questions, make your decision. And whatever you decide, STICK TO IT till it pays you.

Goodluck.

 

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[Jon822]

It's entirely possible to create projects of that size and complexity by yourself. Whether or not it's worth it depends on why you decided to make one in the first place. If you're just copy and pasting what Mark Zuckerberg did in the hopes of becoming rich, then it's likely not going to work because there's no reason anyone should use your platform. If you weren't the one making it, would you use your social media platform? If your objective answer is no, most other people will come to the same conclusion.

Full-stack web development is a long process and you need to make sure you're building something that solves a need.

 

[heavy_industry]

You might as well try to create the next big search engine or operating system.

Business is about solving problems and providing relative value: the right thing at the right time. For social media platforms, the market is so saturated that you would need billions of dollars in funding and a team of experts to break into this industry.

How about starting a smaller project first?

It doesn't have to be the next big thing. It doesn't have to be the hot thing right now. It doesn't have to be high-tech. It doesn't need to have the potential to make you over $100BN.

It just needs to solve a problem for a group of people.
Do that, and sales will happen.

 

[morbius13]

You only know vanilla javascript, so you think it would take very long time to develop it. And you're right, with only this it would probably take many months or even years. But actually, there are frameworks that allow you to do it much faster.

Anyway, if your idea isn't revolutionary, you have no chances to gain significant amount of user and make it work.

 

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