A Brandeis student created a new online platform called ShareOn, where individuals can engage with each other through posts. The platform was created by Alex Blattner ’22, who wanted to build a platform that connected inspirations from several other social media sites into one place.
In an interview with The Hoot, Blattner explained that when he was in high school, “I had a few friends of mine with ideas for new social media platforms. One of them wanted [to create] a social media platform where you can create your own mixtape, yet where you can have a kind of DJ thing and share what you do, and another guy had another idea to make Instagram simpler for people and [allow them] to click on the item that they want to buy, and it links you to a page on Amazon. So I was thinking, it may be possible to have all those gimmicks in one place in an organized manner, and that’s why I decided to start this project.”
Blattner explains that, while in the Israeli army, he focused on learning how to program in order to work towards creating this platform. At the start of the previous semester, he looked for computer science students to help him create this platform. He recruited Aichuk Tripura ’22, a computer science student, to help with the programming, coding and overall functionality of the website. Thibault Padiou ’21, another member of the team, was brought on to help with marketing the product to the people. Another member Alex Park ’23 works with potential users to collect information on the state of the product.
The ShareOn platform allows individuals to create many different types of posts. Individuals must first create an account, and then a person can create memes and engage with other individuals through threads. Wojak memes, or images of a crudely drawn bald man’s face, are a popular meme that many individuals use. Currently, each post is a website itself, and the team is working towards a faster and more flexible post system.
The overall goal of this platform is to have a content-focused media platform. The team has also been working towards making the website more appealing for individuals. One of the biggest reasons they decided to launch the platform this semester was so that freshman could connect with other individuals through platforms online. They wanted to give Brandeis students the tools to create a community during this time of social distancing.
The team has received many reviews of the product. They have gotten a lot of positive feedback; however, they have also realized that “having a good platform on paper is not enough. So what we’re trying also to do is to give a reason beyond just being a good looking platform to stay on the platform,” as Blattner states.
Before the launch, they had multiple tests where they asked for feedback from individuals. Some of the feedback included stating that the platform looked too empty. The team solved this by increasing the size by five percent. In addition, many individuals stated that the design of the website was old school. The team therefore created a new design that allowed the platform to look more sleek. Currently, they are having issues with distribution and working towards solving these issues.
The team meets once or twice a week to discuss new ideas for the platform. Any feedback on their platform would be greatly appreciated, they say, and they urge people to make an account on ShareOn and check out their platform.
