From shadowbanned to center stage: a student-led social media platform for those the algorithms leave behind

Three USD students are challenging the status quo of social media applications by creating one that fosters a culture of diversity and inclusivity 

Riley Weeden/Asst. Feature Editor/The USD Vista

“How ‘Bout Now” is a social media platform fashioned out of a senior capstone project in the school of engineering that emphasizes a culture of inclusivity and support for those whose voices are commonly silenced. Devin Devlin, Adaly Solis, and Daniel Dayto are in the process of creating an application that creates a new culture and identity for social media.

“The goal is to build our technical skills but at the same time build and help fix a bigger problem in the world too,” Devlin said.

Solis is a senior majoring in electrical engineering and has hopes to work in biotechnology after college. As a proud woman of color, she was drawn to this project and the objectives it promotes.

Dayto is a recent graduate of USD who received his bachelor’s of science and arts degree in mechanical engineering. He currently lives in Gainesville, Florida. 

Devlin is a fourth year engineering student who is majoring in electrical engineering. He is president of the National Society of Black Engineers and a member of the Black Student Union on campus. 

Social media is present in almost everyone’s life, and for these three engineers it did not represent what they wanted to see in terms of culture, ideals of beauty, and social activism. Solis discussed the superficial flaws she sees in the content that people post.

“You go for the likes or just because it looks good with your feed,” Solis said.
Dayto emphasized that “How ‘Bout Now” is an app designed to be “very open and transparent,” compared to the filtered and edited content that we see on current applications.

Intending to facilitate culture and inclusion, the application utilizes video, direct messages, comments, and group pages. Devlin described the group feature “Pages,” a platform within the app for students to compare ideas and communicate about the issues they face.

“People such as ‘Black at USD’ can form a page and everyone can be on that one page and post,” Devlin said.

According to the team, the application emphasizes a culture of inclusion by “provid(ing) users with the ability to report posts that do not align with the mission of HBN for further review by our team.” 

Shadowbanning is something this team wanted to address, which is censoring and limiting posts that include certain topics like race, gender, sexuality, etc.

“For other apps, they like to shadowban other posts for minority members,” Devin said. “(Our app) is trying to promote those kinds of…stories and interactions.” 

“(We have) an algorithm and machine learning to be able to tailor content for our users,” Devin said. “When (other social media) build their algorithms they are usually made by white males, while we have a diverse team and a diverse perspective.”

Algorithms are traditionally used to create feeds that please these certain viewers as well as their creators. 

“They base beauty off of how normalized your facial features (are) compared to the Western style of beauty,” Dayto emphasized.

Because of this, many are left out of feeds because they don’t fit the Western standard, Dayto said. Their goal is to represent those who don’t fit into this beauty standard by sharing photos and stories that celebrate people from all diverse backgrounds.

“We are trying to give everyone a voice, whether you are a minority or part of the Black community, whatever small niche you’re in, your voice is important and that’s what we are trying to speak on,” Solis said.

All of the technology that they are creating for the application is aimed at changing the broken algorithms that are prevalent. 

With the rise of social media activism on apps like Instagram and Twitter, we are seeing an outpouring of support for certain movements like Black Lives Matter and Filipinx American History Awareness Month. 

“It’s awesome to repost those things, but at the same time, what does that do? That is something we are trying to focus on,“ Solis stated. “We have this information that people are posting but how can we connect them to people with power that actually can make change.”

The application is used to not just post and communicate, but also to hold others accountable for their actions behind the posts.

Dayto said, “This can be a safe place for people to report microaggressions, assault, or other social issues if this is the only place they have.” 

Devin emphasized that in order to change these issues he wants to be able to build these communities together.

The USD population does not represent the country, as Devin noted only 3% of students on campus are Black throughout all of the various colleges. 

They want to build a community that starts with USD and grows with the application. Solis says they need support from the whole USD community, especially from those who are not marginalized.

“As people who are oppressed, we can’t fight for ourselves,” Solis emphasized. “We need everyone on board.” These three students are building the foundations for change within the USD community. “How ‘Bout Now” is an application that emphasizes efficient technology and social activism. These engineering students have combined their intelligence and passion for advocacy with hopes to one day make a difference in the world beyond USD.