VOLUME 25, ISSUE 12INDEX EDITORIAL 2 | NEWS 3 | FEATURES 5 | ENTERTAINMENT 7 | SPORTS 10 | VISUALS 12

Islanders develop and implement new social media app Spotagory

HALF OFF FROZEN FRAPS | 3-5 PM EVERY DAY HAPPY HOUR •food•free wifi•

•3 local shops•

Please welcome the new app on the block

see New App on the Block on pg 8

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi students (from left to right) Louis Smith, Georgie Dawl, Pamela Macias and Bailey Mross test driving the Spo-tagory app at the Alpha Gamma Delta event

photo by Bailey Mross

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An Islander on a mission

Earth Day Bay Day in Corpus Christi

What Rec Sports has in store for summer

Islander Tribute

see In Loving Memory on pg 3

The world today is overrun with tech-nology. We are a more globalized so-

ciety than ever before. Finding where friends are is as easy as a few clicks thanks to social media sites.

Imagine a city, a bar, or any location having a documented history of its own. Some of these places have their own Facebook pages, but there are so many pictures that will never be tagged leav-ing them to be buried in someone’s photo gallery.

A new iPhone app, Spotagory, is about to change all of that. Spotagory is a geo-graphically based social networking app that utilizes the pictures that users take to visually preserve a story.

“We are just getting started at Spotago-ry and the next few releases will change the way we explore entirely. We’re ex-cited and looking forward to making our own history,” 24 year old Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Kaleb Bryan said.

Available as of March 21, the app has users either link their Facebook or create an original username in order to sign up.

Users can then grab an instant feed

of photographs taken within a nearby radius, and view, comment or like these photographs.

That may sound similar to other social media sites with photo upload capability, but Spotagory is unique on its own.

The annual Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islander Tribute was held on April 8

in honor of the seven fallen Islanders in

the past year. Families and friends of the deceased attended the small and brief ceremony.

“Tonight’s ceremony is all about remembering and celebrating these students lives,” said Dr. Don Albrecht,

Vice President for Student Engagement and Success, “ We [the University] realize we are only a small part of their lives.

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi refl ects on fallen Islandersby CONNER TICHOTAnews editor

by TREY SEALentertainment reporter

04.17.20148entertainmentISLAND WAVES

Student at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and a local Spotagory community manager, Bailey Mross met with Island Waves to discuss the app.

“It’s really about relevance,” said Mross, “Spotagory has both a nearby feed, for any users in a certain radius, and a Friends feed. The nearby feed is what we really wanted to focus on. With the nearby, you can see the photos that anybody is sharing around you. You’ll see the most relevant and the ones closest to you in proximity. These photos can come from anybody, not just your friends. Your friends feed allows you to follow your friends and the various places that they’re taking photos.”

The most game-changing feature however is the upcoming “Map Drop” function. Map Drop allows users to pin-point any location in the world, and see every photo taken there within the app.

For instance, let’s say that you’re looking to plan your next vacation. You’ve heard of a small place called Fredericksburg, Texas, but all that Google pulls up is boring, empty shots of the

city and biased Yelp reviews of certain areas. Spotagory would allow you to see the town’s residents and the various tourists who have come through participating in the culture. It allows users to see the environment in a very candid way.

Bryan, had this to say about the inspiration of the invention.

“I saw this huge gap in social media,” said Bryan, “The gap was not being able to connect with the various people around you. Facebook allows you to make a post but the only people who are going to see that post are your friends. Twitter has the same problem. Hash tags still hold a limited function due to users having to search for that specific hashtag to find the various post associated with it. These platforms are great for communicating with your friends but there is no efficient way to get in contact with your community. I saw this as a huge gap in social media, and Spotagory was born as a simple way to communicate with an entire community.”

Bailey Mross (bottom center) with fellow Islander testing their app Spotagory to inform others of their Alpha Gamma Delta cause to end diabetes through education and awareness.

photo by Bailey Mross

New app on the block continued from page 1