Inspiration
By now, we are well aware of the potential for damage that the misinformation epidemic has. 52% of Americans regularly come across misinformation online, and 67% find it on social media. Peer-reviewed scientific research is among the most reliable sources of information available, but the average reader may not have the time or resources to find relevant articles. We participated in the mentor search program, during which we experienced firsthand the difficulty in finding dodging paywalls to find a professional to guide us through the world of scientific research. We wanted a way to merge the accessibility of social media with the vetted accuracy of research.
What it does
et al. is a social media platform akin to LinkedIn for research professionals and students to share research, discuss, and ask questions. It promotes accessibility and ease of understanding so that everyone has more reliable access to knowledge.
How we built it
We used React.js to create an interactive frontend for our platform, and we plan to use Node.js in combination with MongoDB to store user accounts and posts. This will be hosted on a permanent server.
Challenges we ran into
One of the largest challenges was coding the webpage. We settled on using Javascript React and Next to create an interactive webpage. Since none of us knew how to use React, we spent a significant portion of the time learning the language and debugging issues with our code. Building the entire webpage from scratch caused forced us to focus much more on the front-end.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We were able to come up with a potentially impactful and implement it onto a partially working webpage.
What we learned
We learned how to use the React.js and Next.js frameworks overnight to create dynamic, interactive webpages.
What's next for et al.
We will continue to build the frontend, develop the backend, and incorporate a chat system. Further, we will expand our platform by working with journals like Nature and Science.
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