

She occasionally engages with its feed and has posted her own requests on the page.Īs a computer science student, Chirico said the account has been a resource for her to reach other CS majors and discuss homework, but that an app separate from Instagram would likely be more efficient at finding specific posts. Zoë Chirico, a junior in BU’s College of Arts and Sciences, started following around the time of its launch last year. You have your community, you don’t need to follow a mass amount of people … and I think that way, it gives your posts more value.” “I feel as though it’s very hard for you, especially as a student, to get the word out about stuff if you’re not a famous person,” Muntanga said. From there, Muntanga created a range of accounts for different universities, all of which will be located on Social Call under school-specific filters.īecause the Instagram algorithm can bury posts and prioritize pages with high follower counts, Muntanga said it wasn’t practical to stay on the platform. 1 of last year, and the BU-related account followed on Oct. The first “gigs” Instagram account, was launched Oct. Muntanga said he hopes to keep that feature to maintain social engagement and keep the app from going “stale.” The app will also allow users to sort requests by categories, which include the main sections found on the Instagram version: request, hustle and has recently begun posting 24-hour categories as well, soliciting student responses to a poll or question via Instagram stories and sharing the responses. Muntanga said students using the app will be able to post directly without him being a middleman, which eliminates the wait time before their offer or request appears in the feed. The layout aims to resemble Instagram in visuals and operation. The app, dubbed “Social Call,” is currently developing its database and servers, but Muntanga - who is coding the app himself - said its interface and design are essentially complete. I’m at the point right now where I’m constantly behind on stuff.” Instagram was just a way for me to test out the idea and to see if I was onto something,” Muntanga said. “I always wanted to make this into an app. Once the app is in operation, Muntanga said, he hopes his workload will lessen. He is the sole media manager, meaning he spends around three hours per day sharing posts. On each gig account, Muntanga reposts direct messages on the accounts they were sent to. He began posting about the upcoming app last week. Muntanga, a senior at Northeastern University studying computer science, runs the “gigs” account for BU, as well as those of 19 other schools both in and out of Boston.
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Since launching last fall, has gained more than 7,000 followers and posted nearly 5,500 times, but creator Kaluwe Muntanga said he is hoping its audience will download an app he is currently developing to replace the Instagram page. 4, the account will move off the platform.
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ILLUSTRATION BY LAURYN ALLEN/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFFīut on Feb. The BU Gigs Instagram account run by Northeastern University student Kaluwe Muntanga is set to move to an app dubbed “Social Call” in February. The account also posts BU course advice and runs polls on student opinion. A digital marketplace has burgeoned under an Instagram account circulating offers and requests from Boston University students on anything from housing to clothing to services.
