SocioNet App

SocioNet is a social media application that enables people to find others within their location on a map and interact. The map shows all users around a set radius and users can interact through messaging, photo sharing, and physical interaction. This app is committed  to solve the problem of decreased social interaction after the coronavirus pandemic and destroy the barrier between technology and social interaction. Currently, technology is allowing people to connect online, and many people are devaluing the importance of in-person interaction. SocioNet allows people to connect around a 5-mile radius, boosting in person interaction. This app can positively change lives by opening up the local networking market to job opportunities, cultural interaction, or activism gathering. It also allows law enforcement officers to protect a highly crowded area in the event of large gatherings such as a youth climate strike. It will reinforce the importance of physical social interaction. 

After exiting the final stage of the coronavirus pandemic, many people will become use to interacting with others in the digital world. After using applications such as Zoom or Google Hangouts for many occasions, people will not realize the positive outcomes of physical interaction. Even before the coronavirus, many were used to interacting through Instagram and Snapchat. There is a, currently, a large barrier set between technology and social interaction. This is why SocioNet is using this technology to break the barrier between social media and physical interaction by combining the two ideas. As proven in many studies, this problem ranges in every community globally. The intention of this app is to solve the problem by increasing social interaction but not to destroy the assets of the digital age such as Zoom. The final goal of this app will be to foster casual connections between people in local communities, connect entrepreneurs with partners and employees, and improve law enforcement in highly crowded areas. Due to the location mapping feature in this app, law enforcement officers will be able to easily locate highly crowded areas. The 5-mile radius feature will connect employees to local businesses and entrepreneurs to other entrepreneurs. 

SocioNet is unique in its own way. As previously mentioned, this app includes a connectivity by location feature to foster connections between people in the same area within a certain radius. It includes additional features like messaging, photo sharing, and connecting with friends. This app is unique since other social media applications do not use a map interface and all of the other user interfaces for competitors like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter almost all look the same. The technology also cannot be replicated into existing social media applications as existing applications all have different concepts of interaction. After a person downloads SocioNet, they will have to sign up/login, and after they will be prompted to a screen with a map, showing all active users within a 5-mile radius. In other tabs, they will be able to turn off their location, edit their profile, and also message other users. After connecting, the users will be able to meet up in real life, due to being in the same area, and interact with any goal (casual or business). Currently, the app is under development using the backbone of technologies  including Nodejs, Mongodb database, and ionic 3. 

SocioNet will be able to benefit many people of many cultures around the world. It will have various benefits to society such as increased law enforcement protection and elevated social interaction levels. This app can, in addition, also be directly beneficial to members of various indigenous communities who will be able to find employment and job opportunities by connecting with local business owners in their area. Even people from global aboriginal communities in Africa, South America, the Pacific, and North America will be able to benefit from a simple download of a basic mobile application leading them to more opportunities in the professional environment. Currently, people from these communities and in various places around the world are struggling to find job and business opportunities due to the lack of in-person, local area connections, so this app will be able to solve a major social problem and foster a simple connection leading to greater professional opportunities. To understand the needs of many individuals, my company is currently trying to do a survey in many communities on how much physical social interaction means to them and how their needs can be addressed through this app. We also contacted many people in my local area, and they were able to strongly address that physical social interaction is much healthier than digital interaction. 

This app increases access to jobs, financial capital, and skill development opportunities as users will be able to see what is going around them in a 5-10 mile radius. They can interact with employers, form business partnerships, or find other entrepreneurs to network with. In many studies, it has been proven that connecting with others physically is much more impactful than through an online system, so SocioNet is allowing that to be possible through their features such as connectivity by location, messaging, and physical connect. Users will be able to use this app in a variety of useful ways. 

The innovation part of SocioNet comes in the unique mapping API technology it integrates into the idea of social media. Other social media applications do not use a map interface and all of the other user interfaces for competitors like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all mostly look the same. SocioNet does not have a display of a feed, but opens up a map where people in a certain radius are located. A rival competitor cannot replicate the technology as the map interface is a unique aspect that cannot be placed in existing social media applications. Existing applications are all based on a photo feed, where other users can see pictures of what their friends post. This app is all based on the concept of connectivity by location. Other solutions addressing this same problem are not using the concept of increasing social connections, but are direct methods such as training, which will not connect an employer to an employee in need of a job. Socionet combines various concepts to address problems and will increase employment, entrepreneurship, and social interaction. 

Our mobile application utilizes Nodejs, Mongodb Database, and ionic 3 as the backbone for the code technology. We use these as three main parts of our backend code for the application. For our mapping feature, we use the mapbox API, and integrate it with the interface of our app. These are the main technologies currently integrated with our mobile application, and in the near future we plan to integrate an artificial intelligence system into SocioNet in order to filter similar users to other types of users they are looking for. 

The mapbox API is widely used in many applications on the app store, and it can be found at mapbox.com. Nodejs was used in many web and mobile applications such as Netflix, Paypal, Linkedin, Yahoo, Uber, and Mozilla. Thousands of companies use Mongodb into their tech stacks such as Uber, Lyft, Accenture, Google, and Verizon to develop the most innovative products. Mongodb is one of the most popular databases for modern applications. The user interface interaction or outside look and feel of the app is developed using the Ionic 3 framework. Many apps currently using the Ionic framework such as Marketwatch, Sworkit, Mclaren Automotive, and Diesel. Artificial intelligence is an upcoming product of the next generation and will come into development after the research phase. 

In this current era, it is heavily observed and proven in research that many people are using technology to connect than ever before. After the emergence of apps like Instagram and Snapchat, many people are connecting via video calling, instant photo sharing, or messaging, but are deviating from the concept of the positive outcomes of physical social interaction. After the alleviation of the coronavirus, applications such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Skype have taken over social interaction between people, even if they are just 2 miles apart. SocioNet will be able to break this barrier and allow these individuals to connect physically through a mobile application. With advanced features, SocioNet will also be able to connect job seeking individuals to local businesses, entrepreneurs to local investors, and increase law enforcement in highly populated areas such as parties, social gatherings, and etc. After the introduction of this app, many people will surely use this app to connect with the unique mapping interface, a feature not seen in any other social media application. This will show immediate effects to change in many people's social lives, and the initial theory of change or hypothesis used to build this app will confirm to be true. 

Currently, my application is near to completion and has 3 users/testers. In one year, we expect the number to increase to at least 100,000 users, and in five years, we expect the number to increase to at least 1 million users worldwide. As this is a mobile application focusing on social networking, there will be a high amount of interested individuals. 

Within the next year, my company plans to integrate various technologies to bring the newest updates to the application. We also plan to market the app to spread it to different countries globally and many communities - most importantly indigenous. As year by year passes, we will continue to market our app with the revenues, and after marketing the app to the maximum we plan to add additional features such as artificial intelligence, video calling, and the hangout tab. As we are sure that the app is useful to many, over the next five year plan, we plan to reinvest the revenues and invest more funding we receive to impact the lives of many more people each year. 

In the next five years, it is predictable that our company size will be large enough to have a high employment and technical capacity, but currently, our company does not have the necessary finance to hire qualified developers to further optimize the application. This financial status is also slowing the app's marketing plan down since the company is trying to raise side revenue through marketing consulting and business services to provide marketing for the application. 

We plan to overcome these barriers by slowly increasing revenues month by month after the release of the app. After making a certain amount of revenues, we plan to reinvest a percentage of what we receive back into marketing and further development of the application. As our company grows, we will hire more technical experts and development teams to update and manage the application. 

In management, we have one chief executive officer and a few advisory board members. In the development side, we have one freelance developer working on the application with assistance from technical experts with 20-25 years of experience in the software field. 

Our chief executive officer has various experience in areas ranging from organizational management, leadership, and experience in entrepreneurship. He has previous experience in running another company and a nonprofit organization. Our development team has years of experience in the computer science field and is knowledgable about various coding languages and softwares. With years of professional experience, our development team has worked on many successful software products for other companies. 

Currently, we do not have any partners, however if we were to get future partners, we would collaboratively work together to expand our network, further market our products, ideas to newly optimize our app with updates, and connect with different communities that other companies have access to . 

Currently, my company also offers Generation Z marketing, business strategy & development, web design, and startup assistance services, which is helping us bring in side revenue for our company in the startup phase to invest in products through various clients. In the coming months, we will also search for venture capital funding in order to bring in experienced investors who can provide both financial and advisory support to market the company's products in the market. As the company grows in revenue, we will reinvest the revenues into our products in order to improve the interface and further market our product. The best financial aspect of our company is that the current measured expenses are lower than the revenues, which leaves us with extra finances at the end of the month to optimize the app. 

My company wants to introduce our newest application to MIT solve and possible seek advisors that can help us in further developing our company and products. As this company is led by a young entrepreneur, we would like as many advisors as possible in order to fully equip a team with experienced individuals. Also, at MIT Solve, there are many different perspectives in which SocioNet can fit into, for example, indigenous communities. If not applied to MIT Solve, our company would have not recognized the importance of our application in Indigenous communities, giving us an additional community to focus on. In addition, through MIT Solve, we are also seeking any amount of funding to further optimize our mobile application and bring further updates that can add features to the interface. 

Through partnerships with other businesses, our company aims to receive support in the areas of product/service distribution, funding and revenue models, and marketing exposure. Though our company has experienced individuals in these areas, there are companies that primarily focus on these three key areas which would be most beneficial in our partnership. We would also like to further develop our product through a partnership by brining it into communities that are not too easy to access. 

My company is definitely looking for partners/advisors such as MIT faculty and Solve members who are experienced in the areas of business and entrepreneurship. We are further looking for various initiatives through MIT that have related social media and marketing aspects. Further, we would also like to parter with large social media companies who are willing to provide us with services that can further advance our mobile application. We do not have any names of potential partners, but in the weeks after release of our application we will reach out to many, large technology companies and experienced individuals in the area of business for partnerships and support.