After some group discussion, we have chosen to proceed with idea 2 – an interest-based social networking site.
Why have we chosen this idea?
It is something that is missing from the world of online social networks. There are websites such as Facebook which primarily connects users with people they already know or people they may know, as well as sites which allow users to interact based on specific interests; however there appears to be nothing that combines the ‘social’ aspects with the ‘interest’ aspect.
There are very few platforms which allow a user to form ‘real’ friendships with people who share the same set of interests. Allowing users to make friends in this way could not only create an online network of people who can discuss, teach and inspire each other on the things they are passionate about, but also form friendships where meeting in real life can be possible without having to be a member of a dating website. The aim is to create truly ‘social’ network like Facebook but based on what people are interested in rather than whom people know.
Some initial ideas on website features
The site will use a keyword tagging system for interests – each user would essentially tag themselves with their interests. The site would:
- Allow users to search for others with the same interests or be recommended friends based on how many interests they have in common and their location.
- Allow users to post status updates but each update must be ‘tagged’ with one of their interests; this way their friends will only see posts related to their mutual interests.
- Allow users to chat and have group discussions about their interests, each chat room would also be tagged with an interest.
Having a site such as this would eliminate the viewing of un-interesting posts from ‘friends’ which users barely speak to on sites such as Facebook, while retaining the aim of encouraging users to socialise.
Our next step is to do some background research to find sources of information that are useful and relevant to our project. In the next few posts, we will share with you what we have found, and we will continue to do this throughout the project as we find additional sources of information.