{"id":96191,"date":"2019-03-18T16:20:26","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T15:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=96191"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:14","slug":"your-story-a-social-media-app-that-really-connects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/03\/18\/your-story-a-social-media-app-that-really-connects\/","title":{"rendered":"Your story: ‘A social media app that really connects’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ulisses Sawczuk da Silva is a master’s student in Media, Culture and Society. Besides his studies, he works at a start-up that develops an app to make contact locally. “The app’s called Swabit,” he says.<\/p>\n

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Ulisses shows his app at EM's office.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\t

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EM has moved! Our office is now in HB-108, between Theil Hall and the Tinbergen building. To introduce our new place, we invite everyone to pitch their story on Monday and Tuesday, and we’ll immediately make a piece out of it.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

Last August, when Ulisses first came to Rotterdam, he noticed that people tended to share practical matters on local Facebook groups, like bicycle or house advertisements. \u201cThat\u2019s obviously useful,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I missed the human contact.\u201d He wanted to get to know people, but didn\u2019t know how. He eventually posted a message on a Facebook group. \u201cI wrote about myself, where I come from, my background and that I was looking to meet people.\u201d The post received more than a hundred responses and, not only that, he was approached by the founders of the start-up.<\/p>\n

New app<\/h2>

\u201cWhen the founders of Swabit<\/a> told me about the app, I was immediately sold,\u201d says Ulisses. \u201cSwabit is a proximity-based app, meaning that your post can only be viewed by people within a 200-metre radius. \u201cYou can share anything: a picture of a great sandwich you just bought at the next door store, a funny quote, an invitation to sport or learn a language together.\u201d The app makes it easier to connect with your surroundings, because you can respond immediately to the post or make contact with other users in the area. \u201cThis app would be particularly useful for international students, because \u2013 like me \u2013 they sometimes want to make contact but they don\u2019t know exactly how.\u201d<\/p>\n

The app is still under development but it already has more than 500 users. \u201cWe also have a group of brand ambassadors,\u201d adds Ulisses. At the moment, it consists of fifteen EUR students who voluntarily test the app. \u201cThey give us feedback on whether something works well or needs to be changed.\u201d And if you\u2019re interested in participating? Ulisses: \u201cJust contact me on 06-12706164.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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