Computer Science Department
PauwPals
Jake Rabbiner
Social medial websites and applications are the most common way to connect with
friends or a community in this digital age. Yet, websites and applications such as Facebook or
Twitter usually receive an influx of excess information that blocks meaningful connections and
information the user wants to see. PauwPals is an online social media application with a
real-time chat feature that is specifically for the DePauw community. Instead of navigating
excess information from a website, PauwPals creates a safe space where new DePauw students,
faculty, and staff can meet, post updates about the school, find new roommates, and find other
relevant information the DePauw community wants to know.
PauwPals utilizes technologies such as React, Redux, MongoDB, Node.js, Socket.io, and
JWT( JSON-Web-Token) for authentication. With these features, the user can create a
personalized page, posts, status updates, and chat with one another if they are connected on the
website.
PauwPals solves the problem of social media websites and applications that overload the
user with information. When connecting to a community, or groups within a community, a user
wants to get the information that pertains to them and their community directly. Yet, when
scrolling, other information is pushed to the forefront. Whether it's politics, random
advertisements, or memes, it is difficult to filter out excess information on social media sites.
PauwPals replaces extra information with information that is specific to DePauw.