What Drove Me To This
What brought me to creating this social media app is the challenge and skills that I would be able to bring to myself. I wanted to create something with similar features that you would see on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Linkedin. What is common on all the platforms is the ability to make posts, send messages, like messages, and follow someone. I had never done anything like this before but I wanted to try.
There had to be a purpose to why I wanted to create the app to keep me going. As I began to process, I felt that creatives needed a space to come together share their work, and collaborate. Designers, Engineers, and Photographers can come to a place and create networks. This app would also provide the opportunity for clients to find them here and request their skills. A team can be built because you will find the creatives in one place. Most of the time, it can be difficult trying to find the people with the skills you need especially when you have to search across different spaces. I set out to build that space.
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From Inception To Completion
Challenges
Taking on the design and development of the[COMMUNITY] brought a lot of challenges. Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun during the process because I was amazed at myself of the skills that I was gaining to create the platform. To be able to create an app from inception to completion is an amazing experience. My hands are in every part of this app. The next step that I have to consider is making a native app. I don't know when I may start. The challenges that I faced were more with handling the data. I had to code a lot of provisions for the user. When you allow the user to upload images, and create and update information, I had to make sure that everything was updated to ensure that the images and page would update to reflect the changes. For example, a user can change their username. When that has, your code has to tell the directories to make the update to ensure their images and content are there. Users don't think about that. I differently don't want them to think that they are the cause of the problem because that is what will happen. The data has to be able to be dynamically changed. Controlling the content was the most challenging because I had to constantly change the algorithm as new thoughts and problems arose that I had to take care of.
Planning
Before I even thought about the design for the app, I wanted to create a real-world use case. From researching many different platforms, I noticed that there wasn't a space for designers, engineers, and photographers to have a space to collaborate, hang out, and share their work. I didn't want it to be limited to them. If someone is looking for an engineer/developer and UI designer, they can come to the[COMMUNITY] and find them here. If someone is looking for a videographer, the[COMMUNITY] is the place to look. You get to see some of their work and follow them. It is all about networking and creating connections.
Managing of the App
The app manages itself. It requires very little maintenance because the app determines the view by the content received. For example, when a creative creates, deletes, or updates a post to the universe, this process happens through one page. Depending on the content the page receives, the algorithm knows what type of page the user needs to see. That is the key to this app; utilizing the data to control the app. This method dramatically reduces the number of pages created to maintain. I created about 12 pages for viewing to the public, and 3 pages for the admin; all controlled data. The project took me to levels that I found myself really proud of. All the work within the app is created by me. The app has similar features that you will see on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can follow each other. Send messages to one another. Comment and like a post. You can also set up a video meeting using Google Meet.
What's Next
There is another feature that I am probably going to add to the app. I want people to be able to post job opportunities to the[COMMUNITIES]. A lot of times, creatives have to search for opportunities, but I want others to come to the creatives. The creatives can see the jobs posted and decide whether they are interested or not. I think that probably will be the next step for me to improve the app. Of course, I want to develop the[COMMUNITY] native app, we shall see.
