Multiple studies have shown that social media negatively impacts user’s social well-being. According to an article released by BBC in 2018, time spent on social media often displaces face-to-face interactions, having the ability to make people feel excluded. And now, more than ever, chatting apps, social media, and video conferencing became the norm for external communication, ultimately narrowing the world’s sense of social connection.
Regardless of these studies, most social media apps and platforms focus on increasing online user activity and screen time. YouMap, on the other hand, chose differently. This new social media map app was developed precisely to help enhance user’s experience of discovering their world away from their screens.
Encouraging Real-world Experiences
The idea of creating YouMap came to founder Stephen Constantine while thinking of a safer and more efficient way to gather people for various causes. It is a social app built from a desire to create a platform that help people stay informed and come together to build communities.
“YouMap is a mapping-type social media app that can be used to share experiences and events. But we designed the YouMap not just to cultivate virtual interactions. We hope our app will allow people to engage once again with their communities and create experiences in the real world. It may seem ironic, but we made this online platform to create more engagement with your world offline.”, says Stephen Constantine.
Mapping the World as You See It
YouMap brings together social mapping and social media in one app. The dashboard of YouMap is very different from other social media platforms. It showcases a map view of the user’s vicinity with bubble shapes emojis sorted by importance and urgency of the event or location. The app’s dashboard also contains additional details the user wishes to share, allowing them to post more comprehensive information about places and events.
Users are able to create their own maps or posts, follow maps created by other YouMap users, and discover new maps based on what they want to see. They have the capability of selecting and following their topics of interests in order to curate their own dashboard content. YouMap’s design encourages users with similar interests to share their experiences and explore their worlds with a like-minded community.
On top of these unique features, YouMap also enabled group administrations and exportable embedding. The maps created through YouMap are shareable, exportable and embeddable to any website. Maps can also be managed by multiple accounts through administrator permissions. It provides an easier solution for businesses and organizations to add interactive maps with multiple location points to their website content.
Utilizing Design for Better Function
This innovative functional design has been lauded by multiple award giving bodies. YouMap won Best Visual Design – Function People’s Voice Winner for the apps and software category at the 26th Annual Webby Awards.
“YouMap has set the standard for innovation and creativity on the Internet,” said Claire Graves, Executive Director of The Webby Awards. “This award is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its creators.”
In April 2022, YouMap also won A’Mobile Technologies, Applications and Software Design Award from A’Design Award. An award that recognizes the best products, projects and services worldwide that demonstrate superior design, technology and creativity.
“Moving forward, we plan to focus on growing our user base and continuing to build innovative digital experiences to give communities and the next generation of leaders a better way to map their human story and experiencing their world,” said Stephen Constantinedes.
YouMap is currently available for IOS mobile devices and is being developed for browser accessibility. Interested in exploring this app? Download YouMap from the Apple App Store!
