Inspiration
Serenity was inspired by a variety of social media apps, after all, this is a simple mock of one. We felt there was a need for a supportive space for first-generation, low-income students who often face unique mental health challenges that are unable to be addressed for a multitude of reasons (i.e. expenses for a therapist, inappropriate for other social media apps, etc). Personal stories and the desire to create a safe, anonymous space for sharing motivated the project.
What it does
Serenity offers an anonymous platform where first-gen, low-income students can post and interact without fear of judgment. It includes features like anonymous posts, comments, and likes to foster a supportive and understanding community. We definitely had more plans for it, but we were cut short due to the sheer complexity of our real goal.
How we built it
We built Serenity using Next.js for the web framework, Tailwind CSS for styling, and SQLite for database management. We also utilized React for the front-end and Node.js for server-side operations. Our original plans also hoped to use socket.io to maintain live communication but unfortunately that was out of our reach.
Challenges we ran into
Tuning the styling to our liking to make a soft and comfortable viewing experience was certainly difficult for us. Moreover, we went through a lot of repository terminations due to small mistakes that would completely wreck and mess up our code. Additionally, the fact that we were unable to get socket.io to work makes our product much less impactful at the moment. We also wanted people on the platform to retain their anonymity, though one challenge we encountered is that we still needed people to have usernames so that members would know who they were communicating with, but unfortunately we were unable to develop the database enough in the allotted working period to create a database to fit our goals. The SQL we coded functions, but due to the fact that it didn’t meet our goals, we definitely didn't reach the true potential of the website.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are proud that we got something up and running in the timeframe, and we are pleased that we got the chat to work through a one-way basis. However, we would've preferred to get live chatting up and running as well.
What we learned
We learned more about WebApp development, and the intricacies of Node.js and such, and we also got some exposure to React and experimented with unfamiliar technologies. Additionally, we had a nice time getting accustomed to SQL languages and using typescript.
What's next for Serenity
Aside from live chats, we plan to enhance Serenity with additional features such as advanced moderation tools, more interactive elements, and expanded support resources. We aim to continue growing our user base and improving the platform based on user feedback.
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