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I am tasked with designing a new platform for a new social network, and we have yet to decide on an official color and shade for the company logo.
It seems logical to me to choose the color blue, and of course a different hue than Facebook or Twitter. My question is: Is blue the best color for a social networking platform like Facebook and Twitter?
Can I use other colors and still convey the feeling of "airiness", freedom and "social connection" of the color blue?
Yes, you can
While you are correct that blue is a common color for social media, it is not the only one. Of the top 10 social media sites, only 3 use the color blue: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Another 3 use the color red (and if we had a top 20, red would probably dominate).
I find your connection between the color blue and airiness and social connections interesting. Does that come from research or is it just a subjective perception? In digital world, blue is usually known as a corporate color by definition, although it's fair to say that the terms you mention could be new associations due to the existence of these websites.
To answer your question, you have to dive a bit deeper. A company/brand choses a color for various reason, one can be industry(which you rightly identified), it can be perception, but most importantly it has a lot to do with branding.
Company likes to stick to a color for both internal and external communication and representation.
Sticking to one color helps connects with user. Imagine a coke red, you see on any platform and you will say its coke. Brands use color, unique fonts and unique design elements to constantly bombard and indirectly promote their identity.
Brands even go to the length of making their own font so that they can promote an identity in every communication and user can by instinct know which brand is in the communication.
I think you should start your journey from the logo the company has, and then make a design system that takes into consideration of the brand guidelines(assuming its in progress) that exists and build on that. If it doesnt exist then you should research and do some usability testing on what color connects with the user most for the specific type of social media you are planning to make.
Personally the color will not affect the user much but the balance of what color you use varies by color. So a blue can be used more frequently but a red has a differnt affect on the eye, and hence should be used cautiously.
