SocialLoop · 2025–2026

SocialLoop

closed source

Events
Realtime
Next.js
Games

2025–2026

Event networking with games instead of icebreakers. Attendees join with a code or QR, then play bingo, scratch cards, social deck and pair matching that get them talking, while organizers run check-in, announcements, surveys and analytics. A web dashboard and an Expo guest app on a Convex backend.

read how it was built ↓

about.txt

role: Founder & Full-Stack
for: SocialLoop
stack: Events, Realtime, Next.js, Games
when: 2025–2026

view live

How SocialLoop was built01 / 09

versionv0Jun 2025

A Next.js app and a hunch

The first commit on 4 June was a Create Next App. Within days it had a full page structure, sign-in with password reset, an attendee networking page and connection requests, all on Supabase.

scroll ↓ or click a card

The brief

Most event apps are a badge and a PDF agenda. Networking is still "walk up to strangers", and people open LinkedIn afterwards and never talk in the room. SocialLoop gives attendees a game that happens to introduce the right people, while organizers keep the operations they expect: guest lists, check-in, announcements, surveys and analytics.

facts.txt

Problem: Events with no real way to meet people
Audience: Event organizers and their attendees
Surfaces: Organizer web dashboard and an Expo guest app
Entry: A code or QR, no sign-up friction
Role: Founder and full-stack
Timeline: Jun 2025 to now

How I approached it

01
Games, not forms
Every mechanic has a social action in it: scan someone's QR, complete a task together, find a pair. The game is the introduction.
02
Lower the barrier to joining
Guests join with an event code or QR scan and register in seconds. A guest app and a web version share the same flow.
03
Give organizers real tools
Organizations with invites, events, check-in by QR, announcements, surveys, branding and analytics, so a game night and a conference both fit.
04
Prove it happened
Tasks can be verified by QR scan, photo, manual check or a peer, and organizers get a verification queue for the rest.
05
Make the backend reactive
Leaderboards, presence and game state update as they change, which is why the move to Convex removed so much plumbing.

A look at SocialLoop

How it is different

Event platforms handle tickets and schedules, and stop at the door. Social apps help you find people, but not at a live event. Icebreaker activities depend on a good host and a loud room.

The games are part of the event tool, run by the same organizer dashboard.
Attendees need no download to try it: a code or a QR is enough.
Verification keeps it honest: a connection counts when it really happened.
Leaderboards and points turn attendance into something you can feel in the room.

What it runs on

Next.js 16The organizer dashboard and marketing site
Expo / React NativeThe guest app
ConvexDatabase, reactive queries and server functions
Better AuthSign-in on web and in the guest app
Convex componentsAggregates for leaderboards, rate limiting and presence
Cloudflare R2Photos, logos and banners
ResendInvites and event email
VercelWeb hosting
Earlier stackExpress, Prisma, Redis, BullMQ, Socket.IO, a Go game service, Laravel and Supabase

What got in the way

the problem
Three transport layers and two push layers made every feature touch many places.
fix.md
A single reactive backend on Convex. Queries update on their own, and the Go game service, tRPC and Socket.IO plumbing were deleted.
the problem
A half-finished framework upgrade left a backend that would not build.
fix.md
Rather than patch hundreds of type errors, I rebuilt the backend from scratch with no legacy data to migrate, and moved one slice at a time.
the problem
A live leaderboard needs exact ranks, and counting a whole table on every update is slow.
fix.md
An aggregate component keeps ranks exact cheaply, with a rule to keep it in sync on any change to attendees or points.
the problem
Task completion is easy to fake.
fix.md
Tasks verify by QR payloads tied to an attendee, by photo, by a peer or by an organizer, with a review queue.
the problem
A game-night guest will not install an app to try it.
fix.md
Joining works by code or QR on the web, and the guest app shares the same flow for those who want it.

What came out of it

343commitsJun 2025 to Jul 2026
3appsweb dashboard, guest app, Convex backend
~45tablesin the Convex schema
5game typesbingo, pair, cluster, task deck, scratch cards

SocialLoop is live at socialloop.app. These numbers describe what was built. There are no attendance figures on this page.

What I learned

Start with the thinnest backend that works. Three rewrites cost more than one careful choice would have.
Fewer moving parts beat clever ones. Deleting layers made the product faster to change than adding features did.
Games need verification. Without it, points mean nothing and the leaderboard stops mattering.
Rebuild with no migration when you can. Starting fresh was the fastest route out of the old debt.

SocialLoop: networking that does not feel like networking

Live at socialloop.app. Games on top of a full event platform, rebuilt on Convex in July 2026.

See SocialLoop

Join with an event code or a QR scan, no download needed.

socialloop.app

SocialLoop: transform networking into natural connections

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say-hi.txt

Want something like SocialLoop?

Tell me what you're making and I'll tell you how I'd build it.

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Overview

SocialLoop

A Next.js app and a hunch

Trying Laravel

A real backend and a game service

The busiest month

Debt comes due

Quiet months

One backend

The guest app, rebuilt

Now