A project was done for the 2021 Knight Hacks Hackathon. A platform similar to Reddit however instead of forming close-knit communities of like-minded people unites all people from many different backgrounds. It does this by having people create and find discussion posts where they can discuss various topics. The goal of the project was to experiment with creating a platform that exposes people to other people's opinions while still being able to maintain a friendly dialogue.

Link: https://discussit.tech/

Video: https://youtu.be/YOaJve_nPKw

DevPost Submission: https://devpost.com/software/discussit

Figma: https://www.figma.com/file/ETSlUTxyo3SB1q5uPNeeRi/Knight-Hacks?node-id=1%3A11

The inspiration many came from wanting a platform to connect people with those they would not normally interact with. Many social media platforms today by their design seek to connect similar people together but not different. Additionally, it is increasingly difficult for people who disagree to discuss issues online or in person for a variety of reasons. Discussit seeks to create a social media site where people can post and participate in friendly discussions with a variety of different people. Ultimately, we want to give room for people to explain their reasoning and views while also listening to others even if they don't agree.

Essentially the application facilitates friendly discussion between people. Users can sign in or sign up on to the platform. After entering the platform, the user is brought to a home screen where they can search discussions and see the most recently posted discussions. They can also choose to go to the Create Discussion page where they can create their own discussion post for others to take part in. After choosing a discussion the user would like to participate in, they are taken to the View Discussion page. On the view discussion page, they are assigned to a small chat room where they are able to converse with other people who also want to talk about the topic. The user also has the option to leave the room via the CoolDown button. Clicking the CoolDown button causes a pop up to appear asking information about what occurred and askes if the user has anyone to report. Then they are taken back to the home screen. There is also a chatbot that can assist the user if they have any issues navigating the platform. Although we were not able to get all the functionality working this is how we envisioned the application to function.

• Frontend: React Js
• Backend: Node Js, Express Js
• Authentication: Firebase
• Design: Tailwind CSS
• Prototyping: Figma
• Server Hosting: CloudFlare with a Domain.com domain

• We built Discussit's authentication system with Google Cloud's Firebase. We chose this because we wanted to make an application that was very very secure. We learned how robust & fast Google Cloud services are and seeing that Firebase had a free plan that was great for us student hackers, using Google Cloud was kind of a no-brainer.
• Additionally, Firebase Authentication provided a backend service, easy-to-use SDKs, and ready-made UI libraries, and the ability to authenticate using passwords, phone numbers, Google, Facebook and Twitter, and the like. Thus, implementation was easy and we are pretty sure we made it incredibly convenient for our users while keeping it secure.

We had a lot of compatibility issues. Our backend was never able to connect to our front end due to difficulty with the compatibility of Firebase and the Cloudflare host. None of us initially knew how to set up the hosting, so that was a challenge to figure out. Lastly, due to time zone differences, we had a harder time working together as a group.

• Completing a project
• Learned a lot
• Defeating the barriers put up by different time zones, and working extra hard to complete this project.

• We learned the importance of collaboration.
• How to integrate Firebase as a Database
• How to host a website with a domain

We feel the idea could be applied in some form of social media even if not our own. We believe the idea of discussion among small groups who don't know one another can lead to bad outcomes if not carefully monitored, but if it is monitored can also lead to amazing discoveries, discussions, ideas, and even friends. We would like to continue the project if possible, and if not to hold on to the idea and suggest it to larger social media platforms.