In an effort to encourage young people to connect more, two young entrepreneurs have created an app that they say puts the “social” back in “social media.”
Carleton University graduate Cedric Osagie and Eshan Betrabet, a fourth-year cognitive science major at Carleton, created Thirdspace, a social connection app, to facilitate other Carleton students sharing experiences on- and off-campus, whether it was a walk around campus or going for a drink after class.
The app, which is currently exclusive to Carleton students, creates an AI-generated profile for each user, using information collected such as year of study, program, biggest inspiration and interests. Otherwise, it works similarly to a rideshare app – users can put out requests to share experiences and others can accept.
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For example, someone may put out a request looking for someone to join them for a coffee. Another user might see this request, view the person’s profile and accept to join. The app has limited messaging capabilities that allow both parties to find each other, but it is designed more for people to interact face-to-face, Osagie said.
“We designed the app to make it really simple to use and to have the first questions people ask be, ‘Where are you?’ and not, ‘How are you?’ We don’t want people texting on the app for longer than (figuring out) how to meet and share that experience in-person,” he said.
The app’s name is inspired by the spaces where social interactions occur.
“A third space is a place outside of home and work/school where social interaction happens. A gym is a third space. Clubs are third spaces. Church is a third space,” Osagie said. “It is also very close (in name) to one of the first social networks, MySpace.”
While the app aims to get people together to experience things, there isn’t pressure to create connections.
“The aim is not to make friends. It’s not a dating app. It’s not a social media app. Our aim is, quite simply, to share experiences with other people. (They) have a great time, but there is no pressure to become friends,” he said.
The idea came to Osagie in his first year living on campus in one of the residence buildings at the onset of the pandemic.
“I wanted to meet other people in my building, (but I didn’t know how). I would go on Instagram, but I would end up scrolling and I found that the longer I used it, it didn’t bring me any closer to people,” he told OBJ.
“I would walk and want to talk to people in person, but I found that when I did that, I was perceived as weird. Young people, you can’t just walk up to someone and say hi anymore. So, I wanted to build something to address (that),” he said.
Osagie began thinking about Thirdspace when he was in his fourth year of a bachelor of commerce degree in January of last year.
“Thirdspace is my love letter to Carleton,” Osagie said.
Working with Carleton’s Innovation Hub, Osagie and Betrabet got started on the first version of the app in March of last year.
“The first version of the app was so unpolished, but we were able to learn from our users. We spoke to damn near all of them to start building the current version in August,” Osagie said.
Users told Osagie and Betrabet about ways to improve the app, like allowing users to know more about others before accepting an experience request.
The app officially launched in late January, with a well-attended party at the Innovation Hub on Carleton’s campus.
“It was a big success, I don’t think the launch could have gone any better,” Osagie said.
In promoting the app on Instagram, Osagie and Betrabet had thousands of followers in the first days of launching.
“At our peak, we were ranked 70th on the app store for social networking apps in Canada. We have close to 800 users and we’re currently growing and aiming for the first 1,000 users,” he said.
Though they had early success, Osagie said the challenge lies in fine-tuning the experience so it better reflects what users are seeking.
“We have quite a lot of people initiating experiences, but the challenge is (we are lacking) people accepting experiences. It’s like people going on the Uber app to order a ride, but there aren’t enough drivers,” he said.
In their building phase, Osagie and Betrabet, who completed a software engineering internship at Tesla, took part in Invest Ottawa’s IO Ignition program last summer and won best pitch.
Still wading through the beginning stages, Osagie and Betrabet are looking for ways to grow the app beyond Carleton University.
“The next natural step would be other universities, like (the University of Ottawa), then we could move on to cities. I think our focus right now is, let’s win Carleton,” he said.
As far as startups are concerned, Thirdspace is not Osagie and Betrabet’s first rodeo. At the peak of the non-fungible tokens (NFT) craze, Osagie built a project on the Ethereum blockchain highlighting African culture. As for Betrabet, he made games on the popular gaming platform Roblox.
In starting this new venture, Osagie and Betrabet said the best time to try building new businesses is when you’re young.
“(If I started this later in life) I would have more to lose at that point. I might be married, have a job or kids and if (things don’t go to plan) you have more to lose. I think I would regret not trying it now. I’m young, there’s no better time to do it,” Osagie said.
“I think it’s just easier to do it when you’re in school, as you don’t really have obligations like work. You can go to school and all you have to do is pass and get that degree,” Betrabet said.
Offering a word of advice to young entrepreneurs, Osagie said they should “do it scared, do it embarrassed, but just do it.”
