UH Manoa students have a lot going on, but there is no single casual space built specifically for the campus community where students can quickly share updates, ask questions, post opportunities, and see what other students are talking about in real time. Information is often scattered across Discord servers, Instagram stories, Reddit threads, text messages, and club pages. That makes it harder for students to find useful campus-specific information, connect with each other, and feel involved in the UH community.
My proposed final project is Manoa Social, a social media web application designed specifically for UH Manoa students. It will be built using Next.js, React, Bootstrap 5, and GitHub hosting. The app will allow users to create accounts, log in, and post content to a shared campus timeline. The design is similar to Reddit in the sense that users can create posts, interact with posts, and browse a constantly updating feed, but unlike Reddit, this app will focus on one shared UH Manoa community feed rather than separate subcommunities.
The goal is to create a simple and useful platform where students can post questions, announcements, advice, event information, and everyday campus discussion. This could make it easier for students to stay informed and connected while also giving them a stronger sense of campus community.
All pages will be responsive and styled with Bootstrap 5 so they work well on both desktop and mobile devices.
The “special sauce” of Manoa Social is that each user will have an account with their own personalized state. After logging in, users will be able to do more than just post to the timeline. They can save posts, manage their own profile, track their activity, and potentially receive a more personalized feed based on the kinds of posts they interact with most. For example, a user who often reads posts about classes and internships could see more of those posts highlighted first.
To go beyond the minimum requirements, I would also like to include features such as post tags, comment threads, upvote-style interactions, content reporting, and lightweight moderation tools. These features would make the app feel more like a real campus platform instead of just a basic message board. The project is still realistic in scope, but it also has room for improvement and expansion if development goes smoothly.
Manoa Social fits the goals of ICS 314 because it uses the required technologies, includes user authentication and personalized user state, and is clearly focused on the needs and interests of the UH Manoa community. I think it would be both useful and interesting to build because it combines software engineering concepts with a problem that feels relevant to student life.
ChatGPT was used to help brainstorm the structure of this proposal and clarify my thoughts in an initial draft. I reviewed and edited the content afterward so it matches my intended project idea.