Why Canva failed as a social media platform ?❌

Why Canva Failed as a Social Media Platform ?❌

When launching a product, the pressure from investors can often steer the vision in unexpected directions. This was especially true for Canva. As platforms like Pinterest and Instagram were revolutionizing social media, the investor community insisted Canva adopt a social layer. Questions cropped up: "What's your viral coefficient?", "How are you engaging people on the platform?”. Despite social features being only a minor part of Canva's initial vision, they felt compelled to comply and enrich their platform with social functionalities.

The Attempt

Canva's team spent a significant amount of time—nine months—on this social integration. For a company with a relatively small engineering team, this was a massive undertaking. The outcome, however, was less than stellar. The social features simply did not resonate well with Canva’s user base.

Misalignment

The primary reason for this failure was the lack of alignment with Canva's core product vision. Canva was designed as a tool for people to create various forms of content. A significant portion of their audience used Canva to create very private content—things they had no intention of sharing or discussing publicly. Features like thumbs up on someone's kids' fifth birthday poster felt superficial and unnecessary to the users.

In short, the social features did not blend well with the core DNA of Canva, leading to their eventual abandonment.

Keywords

• Canva
• Social media
• Investors
• Viral coefficient
• Private content
• Product vision
• Engineering team
• Public sharing

FAQ

Q: Why did Canva feel pressured to add social features? A: Canva felt pressured by investors who were influenced by the success of other social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram.

Q: How long did Canva spend on developing these social features? A: The Canva team spent about nine months integrating social features.

Q: Did the social layer perform well on Canva? A: No, the social layer did not perform well and did not resonate with the core user base.

Q: Why didn't the social features work well with Canva's user base? A: Many Canva users preferred creating private content that they did not wish to share publicly or discuss. The social features felt misaligned with the primary product vision of Canva.