At the start of 2023, I dove headfirst into an exciting adventure: mastering a new tech stack to bring the niche social network, MassFaction, to life. The year was a whirlwind of experimenting with cutting-edge technologies and letting my imagination run wild with potential features. Alongside, I dabbled in the vibrant world of social media and marketing, playing with ideas and strategies. However, amidst all this fun and exploration, the core task of developing the platform itself took a bit of a backseat. I had high hopes of unveiling the initial version by the year’s end, but as the calendar flipped to 2024, it hit me—time to buckle down! This year, it’s all about making development the star of the show until the MVP is almost ready to shine. Then, it’s back to the social media and marketing playground, with the added thrill of having our creation almost ready for the spotlight.
So, what’s the scoop on 2024 so far? I’m thrilled to share that this fresh approach of zeroing in on the MVP—putting other initiatives on the back burner until it’s polished and ready—has truly paid off. I have made significant progress towards rolling out the initial MVP version of MassFaction in the first 2 months of 2024 and still plan to have the initial release sometime close to the end of April. In the rest of this post, I’ll go over what you can expect from the first iteration of MassFaction, complete with a sneak peek through a few screenshots. Get ready to feast your eyes on what the platform will look like after its initial release!
Building Blocks: The Essential Features of Our MVP
The MVP is designed with the community’s core needs in mind, focusing on features that enable content posting, sharing, and discovery. Here’s what you can expect:
Securing User Engagement: The Essentials of Authentication
Although it may not be one of the more exciting features, it is a necessity for a site that allows users to submit, comment on, and vote on content to have the ability to authenticate users and grant them access to functionality within the site. When researching which approach to take for authenticating users, I came across an open-source project called SuperTokens. This project allows for the functionality required to authenticate and authorize users of the site to be implemented relatively quickly. It enables you to start with their hosted offering, and if the site garners a large number of monthly active users, you have the ability to switch to a self-hosted solution. SuperTokens has grown in popularity and simplifies the process of allowing users to log in with a variety of authentication methods, from simple usernames and passwords to using existing social media logins like Google.
Introducing Factions: The Core of MassFactions’ Community Structure
Factions are at the heart of MassFaction, with each faction aligning with a specific topic or discipline. The initial launch of the site will feature a small number of factions that users can join. Initially, the factions will be limited to posts related to the discipline but will expand over time to include learning resources and tracking, product databases and reviews, project tracking for users who want to share what they are personally working on, and influencer activities. This allows you to stay connected to what prominent figures are doing in the field and keep track of what they are sharing across various social media platforms.
Crafting Engaging Content: The Crucial Role of Post Creation
When developing the list of features essential for the MVP, post creation emerged as a fundamental requirement. Without it, the site would lack engaging content for the visitors. Authenticated users, particularly those affiliated with a faction, will have the capability to generate various types of posts. The primary option is a standard text post. Utilizing an integrated WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, users can craft content-rich articles, tutorials, or discuss topics of interest. To facilitate post categorization and enhance user browsing experience within a faction, related tags can be associated with each post, allowing for efficient filtering based on these tags.
Connecting Through Content: The Impact of User Interaction on the Posts Page
After a user publishes a post and it moves beyond draft status, it becomes discoverable among other recent submissions, making it accessible for viewing on the posts page. Here, users can interact with the content by upvoting or downvoting, which influences the post’s visibility and potential promotion to the main feed on the faction page. Additionally, the post page offers a platform for users to engage in discussions, allowing them to connect with the original poster and other community members interested in the topic.
MassFaction Homepage: Where Top Factions and Quality Content Meet
Regardless of the specific features selected for inclusion in a new website, a homepage remains an essential component. The MassFaction homepage will serve as a central hub, aggregating the most engaging activities from individual factions. It will highlight the most popular and high-quality content that users are actively engaging with across the platform.
Expanding Beyond the MVP: Enhancing User Engagement and Learning on the Platform
The MVP will offer initial features enabling users to begin deriving value from the platform. However, this is just the start. I’ve outlined several additional features aimed at organizing educational content and allowing users to track their progress with tutorials and other educational materials available on the platform. A key feature to be introduced post-MVP is the projects feature. This will allow users to build and work on projects while enabling others to follow the project’s development and access detailed information. The learning and project features will complement the post feature developed alongside the initial MVP release.
