Build a social sharing frequency tracker

To build a social sharing frequency tracker, you’d typically create a tool or dashboard that records and tracks how often content is shared on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. This could be valuable for content marketing, social media management, or understanding engagement patterns.

Here’s a breakdown of how you can build a basic social sharing frequency tracker using common web development tools and technologies:

1. Define Requirements and Plan:

• Objective: Track the frequency with which specific content (blog posts, articles, products, etc.) is shared on various social media platforms.

• Key Features:

  • Track the number of shares per platform (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn).

  • Display data in a dashboard for easy analysis.

  • Allow tracking of multiple pieces of content.

  • Store the tracking data over time (e.g., daily, weekly).

2. Choose Technologies:

• Frontend: HTML, CSS, JavaScript (React or Vue.js for dynamic content).

• Backend: Node.js with Express, Python with Flask/Django, or PHP with Laravel.

• Database: MongoDB (NoSQL), PostgreSQL (SQL).

• API Integration: Social media APIs to get share data (Facebook Graph API, Twitter API, LinkedIn API, etc.).

3. Social Media APIs:

Each social platform provides APIs to get share counts. Here are a few details:

• Facebook: Facebook’s Graph API allows you to retrieve the number of shares for a specific URL using an endpoint like:

  bash
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  https://graph.facebook.com/?id={url}
  

  This returns data that includes the share count and other engagement metrics.

• Twitter: Twitter doesn’t provide direct share count APIs, but you can use tools like SharedCount or AddThis that aggregate share counts from Twitter and other platforms.

• LinkedIn: LinkedIn’s Share API doesn’t directly offer share counts, but third-party services can often help track shares.

• Other Platforms: You can also use third-party services like AddThis, ShareThis, or Buffer to integrate social sharing buttons and track engagement.

4. Database Schema:

Here’s a basic database schema for storing the share data:

Table: social_shares

• id (Primary Key, Auto-increment)

• content_id (Foreign Key to your content or article table)

• platform (Enum: “Facebook”, “Twitter”, “LinkedIn”, etc.)

• share_count (Integer: number of shares)

• timestamp (Datetime: when the share count was recorded)

5. Backend Implementation:

• Route: Set up an API route to fetch the share counts from various social media platforms:

  • Fetch the share data from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn using APIs.

  • Store it in your database.

  • Return this data to the frontend.

Example with Node.js and Express:

js
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const express = require('express');
const axios = require('axios');
const app = express();

app.get('/track-shares', async (req, res) => {
    const url = req.query.url;  // Get the URL of the content
    
    try {
        // Fetch Facebook shares
        const facebookResponse = await axios.get(`https://graph.facebook.com/?id=${url}`);
        const facebookShares = facebookResponse.data.share.share_count;
        
        // Fetch Twitter shares using a third-party service or Twitter API
        const twitterShares = await getTwitterShares(url);  // You will need a function for this.
        
        // Save data in database (you'll need a database connection here)
        await saveShareData(url, 'Facebook', facebookShares);
        await saveShareData(url, 'Twitter', twitterShares);
        
        res.json({ facebookShares, twitterShares });
    } catch (error) {
        res.status(500).json({ error: error.message });
    }
});

function saveShareData(url, platform, shareCount) {
    // Save the share count to your database
    // Example: db.save({ url, platform, shareCount, timestamp: new Date() });
}

6. Frontend Implementation:

Create a user-friendly dashboard that shows the share counts over time.

• Display a graph or chart (e.g., using Chart.js, D3.js, or Google Charts).

• Allow users to select a piece of content and view its share frequency over time.

Example of a simple React component to display share counts:

jsx
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import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
import { Line } from 'react-chartjs-2';
import axios from 'axios';

const ShareTracker = ({ url }) => {
    const [shareData, setShareData] = useState([]);
    
    useEffect(() => {
        const fetchShareData = async () => {
            const response = await axios.get(`/track-shares?url=${url}`);
            setShareData(response.data);
        };
        
        fetchShareData();
    }, [url]);

    const data = {
        labels: ['Facebook', 'Twitter'],
        datasets: [
            {
                label: 'Share Counts',
                data: [shareData.facebookShares, shareData.twitterShares],
                fill: false,
                backgroundColor: 'rgba(75, 192, 192, 1)',
                borderColor: 'rgba(75, 192, 192, 0.2)',
            },
        ],
    };

    return (
        <div>
            <h2>Social Shares for {url}</h2>
            <Line data={data} />
        </div>
    );
};

export default ShareTracker;

7. Scheduling Data Fetch:

To track share counts over time, you could set up a cron job or scheduled task to periodically call the social media APIs and update your database.

For example, using Node Cron in Node.js:

js
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const cron = require('node-cron');

cron.schedule('0 0 * * *', async () => {  // Run every day at midnight
    const contentList = await getContentList();
    contentList.forEach(async (content) => {
        const shareCounts = await fetchShareCounts(content.url);
        await saveShareData(content.url, 'Facebook', shareCounts.facebook);
        await saveShareData(content.url, 'Twitter', shareCounts.twitter);
    });
});

8. Deployment:

• Deploy the backend (Node.js/Express app) on platforms like Heroku, AWS, or DigitalOcean.

• Deploy the frontend (React) on services like Netlify or Vercel.

• Set up a database (MongoDB or PostgreSQL) on a managed service like MongoDB Atlas or AWS RDS.

9. Additional Features:

• User Authentication: Allow users to sign up and track their own content’s share frequency.

• Email Notifications: Notify users when their content gets shared frequently or drops in shares.

• Export Data: Let users export their share data in CSV format for further analysis.

By combining the social media APIs, a well-organized database, and a frontend to visualize the data, you’ll have a powerful social sharing frequency tracker to measure and analyze the reach of your content across different platforms.