Social Media applications have really become the “lifeblood” of the current generation.
Social Media applications are now like a “stand”:
- To connect with people
- For entertainment purposes
- Business
- Find or offer jobs
- Receive information
Aside from its benefits, Social Media apps can also be very harmful. They can lead to a high security breach if they are not properly validated for security.
The improper functioning of these applications in any way can also affect the businesses of the thousands of people who depend on them for their business needs.
Therefore, testing the Social Media app is very important.
Here are detailed instructions on how to test Social Media apps.
Why is testing Social Media apps important?
According to Statista – “The number of worldwide users is expected to reach about 3.02 billion monthly active social media users by 2021.”
Such a large “stand” certainly needs to be secure and provide a seamless experience for all users. Therefore, it is very important to test these applications for them to function effectively.
Types of social media testing
Social Media includes many different functions. Testing Social Media applications requires you to have extensive domain expertise, high experience and precise skills. Testing out the Social Media apps include:
- Enterprise software testing : Social media applications serve a large number of users and are very powerful for testing and require a high level of security testing. As a result, these applications require some high-end enterprise testing solutions for testing.
- Web 2.0 testing : As a web 2.0 based application, testing the social media application requires early participation of testers. These applications are also susceptible to change frequently and therefore the automation of test cases for those applications is preferred.
- Web testing : including compatibility, functionality, security testing, performance testing, and database testing should be done for social media apps.
- Software as a Service (SaaS) testing : SaaS is called software like a service model. Social media services follow the Saas model and need to be validated in order to function properly using SaaS testing.
- Website analytics test : A social media app that processes large amounts of data, tests website analytics that help crawl the website, then analyzes and reports based on user goals.
- User acceptance testing : includes testing social media apps for appeal and user friendliness.
- Content Management Testing: Content Management Testing confirms that the content is relevant to your audience. Social media applications like Facebook are like an ocean of content, new content is posted regularly and thus, testing content management becomes an ongoing and very important task to avoid any. issue related to the content.
- SEO Test (Search Engine Optimization) : SEO is the hourly need to promote your website / apps online. Hence, SEO testing becomes very important to ensure proper development and rendering of the social media application.
- Test online advertising : Today’s social media applications promote businesses to use online advertising. It is important to confirm the proper functioning of online ads.
Social Media application testing life cycle
To ensure that the social media testing goes well, follow an appropriate testing methodology. Here are the steps you can follow to make sure to test your social media apps correctly.
1. Analysis requirements:
As the first and most important step, helping to define the test scope and objectives.
Make a list of all it takes to test, how much time and how many resources it takes to test.
2. Planning:
The next step is to conduct a successful social media app testing.
Test planning depends on the tester’s goal achieved from testing.
Therefore, they should have a clear understanding of what they have to test, that they only do front-end or back-end testing or both.
3. Allocate resources for testing:
According to the analysis in the requirements analysis phase, please allocate resources for testing such as human resources, allocate time for testing, etc.
Before you start testing your social media mobile app, you should list the testing techniques – Functional and Non-functional .
Also make note of the network, operating system and device platform information to test functionality.
For non-functional testing, techniques choose from different testing techniques such as performance testing, usability testing, adaptability testing and security testing.
4. Document Test Case:
This is the first step towards real testing.
Create test cases based on the test plans that were created during the initial test phases.
Create test case documentation with all the features and functionality of the social media app.
The test cases must include all functional test cases along with many other test cases for usability testing, adaptability test and other test cases like application speed test, level Memory usage, battery usage and data requirements.
5. Determine the interoperability of Manual Testing and Automation Testing.
Testing social media apps involves a combination of both manual and automation testing. Prepare a separate document for test case manuals and test script automatic testing.
6. Perform Test:
Actual testing takes place here, where the test cases created in the previous step will be executed. Test cases and scripts can be executed on physical devices or using testing tools or in the cloud.
7. Identify and eliminate bugs:
During test cases, all bugs detected must be reported to the development team to fix the bug.
8. Documents:
Record every bug you find. This document can be used as a reference for future testing.
9. Completion of testing:
After bug fixes, the application must be retested to check if bugs were properly removed and to check if code changes are not affecting current functionality.
Although there is nothing like completing the test, as the application can request to be tested multiple times whenever there is any code change.
But if in any test round, the code is determined to be error free, then the test is considered complete.
Some tips for testing social media apps
Here are some tips for testing social media apps effectively:
- Testers must have experience in designing and implementing Web 2.0 testing
- Do a site test that covers all cases.
- Automatic authentication is very important for social media applications.
Conclude
Social media applications are seeing a sudden spike. People are depending on them for their requirements and daily use.
Such a vast platform requires extensive testing so that they pose no threat to users at either the personal or professional level.
Article translated from: How to Test a Social Media Application? https://www.testbytes.net/blog/how-to-test-a-social-media-application/