CultureConnect

Cultural exchange and understanding through moments of asking and answering.

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Inspiration

In response to the prompt "University Problems", CultureConnect explored the issue of racism and discrimination within universities. While racism and discrimination are far from limited to university settings, they remain a growing concern - evidenced by efforts such as the first Racism@Uni national survey run by the Australian Human Rights Commission and the recent launch of RMIT's Anti-Racism Commitment Statement and Action Plan earlier this year.

What it does

Completely resolving such a systemic and deeply rooted issue is, of course, beyond the scope of this project. However, by honing in on some of the underlying causes of racism and discrimination within universities, CultureConnect aims to move the needle in the right direction. In particular, the lack of understanding and communication between students from different backgrounds was identified as a key factor. This is the gap CultureConnect seeks to bridge - by creating a platform where verified students can ask, answer, and share bite-sized questions and experiences to gradually foster mutual understanding.

How we built it

  • macOS 13 or later
  • Xcode 15 or later
  • Swift 5.9+
  • iOS 17+ (Simulator or real device)

Challenges we ran into

The idea of asking, answering, and sharing posts draws inspiration from social media, and with that comes risk - including potential hate speech, trolling, harassment, or misinformation. To mitigate this, any real-world implementation would require robust moderation systems, combining AI tools with human oversight.

Another consideration relevant to Australia is the recent social media ban for users under 16. While university students are generally above this threshold, any implementation would still need to address user authentication and data security. This remains out of scope for the current prototype but represents an important future direction.

Interestingly, this same regulation also presents an opportunity. By requiring verified student accounts, CultureConnect not only ensures authenticity but also reduces the likelihood of harmful or anonymous behaviour. Moreover, it emphasizes that the platform is by real students, for real students - offering genuine, relatable perspectives rather than algorithmically generated or impersonal search results.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Working prototype on Xcode!

What we learned

Working in regulated industries (social media) comes with heavy burden.

What's next for CultureConnect

  1. Backend Integration: Implement a persistent backend service (e.g. Firebase, Supabase, or custom API) to store posts, comments, and user data. This would enable real-time updates, multi-user functionality, and session persistence across devices.

  2. Verified User System: Introduce secure account verification to confirm student identity and age. This ensures accountability and aligns with new social media age-verification regulations in Australia.

  3. Moderation Tools: Add an automated and human-in-the-loop moderation pipeline to detect and manage hate speech, offensive language, and spam content before publication.

  4. Recommendation Algorithm: Enhance the Explore feed with a ranked recommendation system that prioritises posts based on engagement (likes, comments) and freshness, creating a personalised and dynamic discovery experience.

Built With

  • swiftui
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