My design is an app, “Watch With Friends,” that fosters communities and brings people together based on what movies and T.V. shows they like. The basic idea is like Letterboxd and Reddit had a baby. Users will be able to log what movies and shows they’ve seen, what movies and shows are their favorites, and what movies and shows they want to see. The app’s main draw would be that users who like similar shows and movies would be able to create watch parties to watch these shows and movies together. The watch parties would be able to be hosted in person or online. The app would have optional location services. If the user has their location services turned on, the app would show them people in their area, within a given mile radius chosen by the user, who have seen, want to see, or like similar movies or shows. People close to each other would then be able to essentially create group chats where they can plan watch parties to have in real life. However, users who don’t want to, or don’t feel comfortable meeting with other people in person would have the option to connect with people to create virtual watch parties. The app would still show people without location services turned on other users with similar logs and “to watch” lists as them. This feature would make it easier for users to create groups and communities. Like Reddit, there could also be groups that people can search for and join. For example, if you love Star Wars movies, then you could join specific Star Wars communities and meet people that way. There would also be forums where people can talk about movies and review them as well.

This app design would fall either under social reasoning or group dynamics. The app does this by showing you people who like the same movies and shows as you, therefore making it easier to create communities where people feel welcome and share similar interests. One non-technological thing that this app could be compared to is simply going to the movie theater. At the movie theater, you might meet someone who you share similar interests with and become friends with, but most people go to the movies with someone they already know and aren’t looking to meet new people there.

I think this app would fit well in the context of today. Many large streaming platforms have watch party services, so users would be able to easily set up their watch parties together as long as everyone has the same streaming platform they are wanting to use. For platforms that don’t have watch party services, there are ways to still hold watch parties like through zoom. I think that this app would work well today because all the technology that we need to run it is already here. I also think that this app would work well today because people are still looking for connection coming down from the pandemic. 

There are some unintentional consequences that might arise from this app, though. One consequence could be online bullying. With online anonymity, there are always going to be mean people, and so this platform could fall victim to that. I think similarly to the online bullying consequence, there could be problems with fighting in general. People can be very passionate about the movies they like, so healthy discussions and reviews of movies could turn hostile very quickly. Another consequence of the “meeting in person” feature could come from catfishing, or people saying that they are someone that they aren’t. However, the app would have “verify” features that would hopefully help to combat catfishing and make the app a safer place. The app would also encourage users to hold watch parties in groups, not just one on one.