Overall, I would rate the weBelong app a 4/5. The app not only seems to be very inclusive, age appropriate, and diverse, but it is also functional, visually appealing, and easy to use. All of these traits add to the entertainment and newfound popularity of the app, especially among adolescents and teens. Furthermore, the design of the app makes it extremely easy to network by suggesting new users and communities to connect with based on shared interests, passions, and identity traits. The apps encouragement of diversity, inclusivity, and the discussion of mental health also allows for users to feel safe and supported when sharing experiences among this online community. WeBelong is also a unique social media app where likes and upvotes that other users have received are not visible. Since social media began to grow exponentially in the past decade, it is apparent that the ability to make comparisons to others based on the number of likes or followers that one possesses has promoted a lot of toxicity. More specifically, according to a study regarding adolescent social media use and mental health, more frequently than not, social media was found to heighten internalizing symptoms like loneliness, sadness, and depression, particularly when an adolescent has the perception that “he/she/they does not compare favorably to others as seen on social media or does not have the types of affiliations with others that he/she/they perceives on social media” (Barry et al., 2017). The weBelong app’s decision to remove visible likes and follows seems to actively prevent any type of comparison or competition from taking place; therefore promoting shameless self-expression and encouraging a focus on being oneself. In turn, I believe these focuses benefit mental health and allow users to feel a stronger sense of individuality and acceptance among various groups and communities. The only couple of drawbacks that I noticed after using the app were its tendency to lag severely when loading photos or videos or switching between pages and its lack of accessibility for users with disabilities. I believe that the overall quality of this app would be improved by fixing bugs that makes content lag and through the implementation of more settings that make the app more accessible to users with low vision, hearing impairments, or other disabilities. Overall, weBelong is a great app that does an outstanding job of promoting social networking among teens and adolescents without the influence of toxicity!
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