I've been building something that could be described as a "professional social network SaaS" [1]. Most of the users are VC funds that connect founders in a netw

I've been building something that could be described as a "professional social network SaaS" [1]. Most of the users are VC funds that connect founders in a network. I think the thing that is most under-appreciated is keeping people engaged over time. Facebook kept people coming back because it was the universal network. As social media fragments, people assume that others will just stick around in a Discord/Slack/Circle/etc. But, the reality is that ~75% of people stop returning after a month. And, most social networks see that 90% of members read instead of engage - so the format needs to work for people who prefer to just read. I solve this in my product by sending a email summary every day to keep people informed. My opinion is that the defining characteristic of any social network software is how it keeps people engaged over time - whether it's email newsletter, SMS, push notifications, or desktop pop-ups. The time and place people see notifications is closely related to the network audience, and how notifications work as audience size scales matters. A software that assumes that people will just remember to come back without reminders is going to taper off slowly in engagement. We'll never have another universal social network like Facebook in 2010. So, as networks splinter - think about when and how often people need to engage, and work backwards on the software from those needs. [1] https://booklet.group https://booklet.group