HCUBC sat down with Qiming Fang, co-founder of the new app, Taylr. Taylr is an app designed to help you expand your social and professional network here at UBC. If you want to get to know your classmates better and find an authentic community, Taylr is a perfect app for you!
Based on your interests, Taylr matches you up with other students from around campus. The first step to being a member of the Taylr community is creating your profile. Your profile can include what your interests are, where you’re from, links to your other social accounts such as Facebook and Instagram, and any other information that you would like the UBC community to know. After completing your profile, Taylr will send you one introduction of someone from around campus each day based on your similar interests and will explain what connections you share. For example, someone with #Gage in their profile would be connected with someone else with the same hashtag.
If you’re connected with someone that you find interesting, you can send them a fun video message as your first hello! While chat is also available for your use, Taylr encourages video message as its primary mode of communication. Once matched, you can start creating meaningful connections with your UBC community.
What sets Taylr apart from the other apps out there? While it can be hard to differentiate between real and fake accounts on other apps, Qiming says that a key attribute of Taylr is its authenticity. Because a UBC campus wide login (CWL) is required to join the app, Taylr assures that only real UBC students are members. In addition, the links to other social accounts on each member’s profile and video communication allows Taylr users to better verify the real person behind the account. On Taylr, users can be assured that the person they’re talking to is really the person who they think it is.Â
Qiming says that he wishes he could have used an app like Taylr back when he was a university student. After graduating from Cornell University in 2013, Qiming says that he read about a couple of his classmates in the news working on cool projects and that he wished he could have known these classmates while attending school. Inspired by this wish, Qiming co-founded Taylr as a way to help other students branch out on campus and make more connections.
Since Taylr is only currently available to UBC students, Qiming and his co-founder Tony strongly encourage feedback and are eager to talk about the app. If you happen to see the Taylr team at a booth in the Nest, or partnering with an entrepreneurship club on campus, make sure to say hello and to get more information on the app!
For more information on the app, check out Taylr’s promotional site, Facebook page, and become a member of Taylr’s website so that you can stay updated about any events that Taylr is hosting in the future. This Friday, November 20th, Taylr is hosting its first party of the year at Koerner’s Pub on Campus starting at 9pm. If you’re 19+, make sure to go check it out!
The Taylr app is available for IOS on the App Store. Â