W2: Creating a New Social Media Platform

Creating a New Social Media Platform

"Sanctuary of Soul" - Social Media Platform

Introduction

As the initial and main purpose of using a phone is to have connections with others such as by calling and messaging, most people nowadays choose to use free-charge social media rather than just calling and SMS which need to pay. Hence, social media has become an indispensable in our lives. However, normal social media with only communication features cannot satisfy everyone, particularly teenagers. As one of this age level, I always like to have social media which can be my shelter of mind and includes some specific features that I will propose in this blog, hence I gave the name "Sanctuary of Soul" for this special social media platform.

Unique Features

The Sanctuary of the Mind (LIV Acupuncture, 2023)

The target audience is teenagers around 18 to 25 years old which is a group of people who are relatively immersed in social media platforms. Based on common social interactions such as messaging, voice and video calls, and a platform for everyone to share their stories and posts, some unique features as below are added in Sanctuary of Soul:

• Confession Forum: Undeniably, adults nowadays are full of annoyable and frustration especially teenagers due to sensitivity. Sometimes, teenagers are not willing to express their feelings to people around them. Hence, a social media platform is preferable for them to share their story anonymously to protect their privacy. In Sanctuary of Soul, users can express their emotions or comment on other's posts with no one others knowing them.

• Interest-Based Community: Everyone has their own hobbies and interests, while few of them will feel that they have no soulmate to go with the same interests together. This is a good platform to let everyone gather together to have joys with common interests. Besides, there will be some specific tools under its platform which tailored to each interest.

• Virtual Reality (VR): Virtual Reality (VR) is the use of computer-based modeling and simulation that provide the capability to interact with an artificial three-dimensional (3D) visual or other virtual setting (E. Lowood, H, 2024). Usually, users need to wear a helmet with a stereoscopic display that shows animated visuals of a simulated environment, and goggles or body suits to receive and send information through interactive devices. In Sanctuary of Soul, it will provide a VR platform for users to have many interactive activities. Here are they:

• Soul: Users can design their own customized avatar and use it to have a virtual face-to-face meet-up with others without leaking of identity. The purpose is to enable teenagers to know more people from different categories to widen their horizons. However, the premise is every user should have to fill up Real-name Authentication to avoid scamming.

• Pets: Pets have become a type of spiritual solace for most teenagers nowadays. However, not all of them have the ability to adopt a pet. Thus, a virtual pet in social media can provide emotional support instead of having a real pet. As the same as real animals, digital pets will grow up if you take good care of them. They will have different reactions according to different scenarios, and have AI communication with their owners.

• Games: Users can enjoy various types of games on this social media platform such as leisure, adventure, sport, arcade, board, racing, role-playing, simulation, and strategy. They can play the games with friends or even players that you do not know at all. With VR visual settings, players will be more immersive as it is similar to playing physically.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, Sanctuary of Soul is a platform that provides us comfort and peace of mind. It cannot be denied that this social media can help to improve the relationships between family members, friends, or loved ones, besides increasing the chances of social interaction and communication between teenagers if it has been successfully launched. It is then expected to enhance the soft skills and mental health of users through communicating or playing games with each kind of person. In this digitalization era, VR has also played an important role in entertainment activities to provide us a more realistic gaming experience. Hence, I hope that there will be a group of genius to create Sanctuary of Soul in order to provide a pleasant and joyful experience for teenagers even all groups of people.

Reference

E. Lowood, H. (2024, Jun 27). Virtual reality (VR). Britannica. Retrieved June 30, 2024, from https://www.britannica.com/technology/virtual-reality

LIV Acupuncture. (2023, October 26). The Sanctuary of the Mind: Acupuncture and Psychological Safety in Modern Times. Medium. Retrieved June 30, 2024, from https://medium.com/@livnatacu/the-sanctuary-of-the-mind-acupuncture-and-psychological-safety-in-modern-times-e457579a4dc5