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Advice on struggling to build a community for my social app against loneliness

7 points by chaffie 4y ago

chaffie 4y ago
Hey everyone! I build a social app for people that are lonely and looking for other people around them to hangout with. Right now I am struggling to build a community around it. I am more of a developer/product manager than a business person. So I dont think I would be the right person to help this product get to the public. What should I do, any advice?
- simne 4y ago
  Best, is to find cofounder with business exp, who will do business side. But exists some "easy to gather low fruits" opportunities for start. We could connect and talk for details.
  - chaffie 4y ago
    Hi Simne thanks for the advice, would love to connect. How can I reach you?
    - simne 4y ago
      Hi! Write me on simne007[at]gmail, other details (contacts) could negotiate there. Thank You!
- psyclobe 4y ago
  Find your business person partner
SQueeeeeL 4y ago
I have a book recommendation, Lost Connections by Johann Hari. I'd also highly recommend getting a few lonely people on your phone as "product testers". Make sure you get genuine feedback from them (very difficult if you're passionate about an idea), and try to discover what their hangups actually are about engaging with existing online communities, and figure out a way you'll be attempting to resolve some of those problems for your platform.
- chaffie 4y ago
  Thank you! Yeah I have done a few of these interviews based on those I actually designed the app. Issue now seems to be the demand issue, because not much is happening people are less willing to create hangouts. Most people I interviewed now said there is not enough happening and thats why they are a bit scared to create their own hangouts
robcohen 4y ago
I feel like ideas like this suffer from the same issue, namely when you have an event that’s generically for lonely people you end up with a bunch of lonely people with an odd vibe. It’s like the Meetup events that are for “meeting people in your 30s”. Just ends up being the kind of event no one really enjoys going to because the people who show up have odd vibes. In my opinion it’s probably far better to have an app that aims to be an alternative to Meetup but isn’t marketed as being for lonely people. Non-lonely people want to do things too.
- lepus 4y ago
  It's true - if you're lonely you're probably not good at being supportive to other lonely people so it can feel weird. Something that brought together groups who are willing to be patient and encouraging that are looking for more people would probably work well, kind of like an extrovert "adopting" an introvert.
- chaffie 4y ago
  That is what I initially thought! But turned out when i organised a few of these hangouts myself people turned out to be quite social. Partly because they where already able to chat before hand. Good tip! Right now I focus the app more on helping you build your social circle if you feel like it is not big enough or you want to switch things up

7 points by chaffie 4y ago

Hey everyone! I build a social app for people that are lonely and looking for other people around them to hangout with. Right now I am struggling to build a community around it. I am more of a developer/product manager than a business person. So I dont think I would be the right person to help this product get to the public. What should I do, any advice?

simne 4y ago
Best, is to find cofounder with business exp, who will do business side. But exists some "easy to gather low fruits" opportunities for start. We could connect and talk for details.
- chaffie 4y ago
  Hi Simne thanks for the advice, would love to connect. How can I reach you?
  - simne 4y ago
    Hi! Write me on simne007[at]gmail, other details (contacts) could negotiate there. Thank You!
psyclobe 4y ago
Find your business person partner

SQueeeeeL 4y ago

I have a book recommendation, Lost Connections by Johann Hari. I'd also highly recommend getting a few lonely people on your phone as "product testers". Make sure you get genuine feedback from them (very difficult if you're passionate about an idea), and try to discover what their hangups actually are about engaging with existing online communities, and figure out a way you'll be attempting to resolve some of those problems for your platform.

chaffie 4y ago
Thank you! Yeah I have done a few of these interviews based on those I actually designed the app. Issue now seems to be the demand issue, because not much is happening people are less willing to create hangouts. Most people I interviewed now said there is not enough happening and thats why they are a bit scared to create their own hangouts

robcohen 4y ago

I feel like ideas like this suffer from the same issue, namely when you have an event that’s generically for lonely people you end up with a bunch of lonely people with an odd vibe. It’s like the Meetup events that are for “meeting people in your 30s”. Just ends up being the kind of event no one really enjoys going to because the people who show up have odd vibes. In my opinion it’s probably far better to have an app that aims to be an alternative to Meetup but isn’t marketed as being for lonely people. Non-lonely people want to do things too.

lepus 4y ago
It's true - if you're lonely you're probably not good at being supportive to other lonely people so it can feel weird. Something that brought together groups who are willing to be patient and encouraging that are looking for more people would probably work well, kind of like an extrovert "adopting" an introvert.
chaffie 4y ago
That is what I initially thought! But turned out when i organised a few of these hangouts myself people turned out to be quite social. Partly because they where already able to chat before hand. Good tip! Right now I focus the app more on helping you build your social circle if you feel like it is not big enough or you want to switch things up