What makes people actually stay on a new social network?

I've been building a social network called Feedr, and I'm currently testing the beta with early users.

One thing I've realized is that getting someone to sign up is relatively easy. Getting them to come back regularly is much harder.

The obvious problem with launching a new social network is the network effect:

• If there aren't enough people, the feed feels empty.

• If there isn't interesting content, people don't post.

• If people don't post, there's nothing for others to interact with.

• And if there's nobody to interact with, users don't come back.

I'm experimenting with different ways to solve this without simply trying to copy the growth strategies of existing platforms.

For people who have built or launched communities/social products:

What was the biggest thing that helped you get your first 100–1,000 genuinely active users?

I'm particularly interested in what actually worked in practice—not generic advice like "run ads" or "post on social media."

I'd love to hear what worked, what failed, and what you'd do differently if you were starting again.

https://feedr.in/