You may have heard the statement before: “Tweet it on Twitter, post it on Facebook – and take a picture on Instagram.”
But if Bellevue resident Julius Javier, 29, has anything to say about it, you might want to add another line: “see it on HourScene.”
That’s the new “social discovery” application Javier and his team have been working on over the past few months – and it might just be the next big thing in social networking.
The app allows users to rediscover social networking as it was intended to be – for the public by the public.
“We want people that are currently posting things in private to share things that are cool and interesting with the public,” Javier said.
When users login to HourScene they can discover public Scenes that are posted on the hour on their favorite social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching keywords or hashtag.
“I wanted to create an app where people can search all the hashtags they see in one place,” Javier said. “It’s easy to search for hashtags, events, sports, news, trends, deals, anything to discover your Scene.”
Users who download the free app can also share their discovered Scenes with others and view what Scenes are trending on the hour, as well as view public Scenes across the world with the map view.
Javier first came up with the idea for HourScene about a year ago while working on another app called Mega Bite. When he realized the market for app.-based food ordering was over-saturated, he decided to abandon the project and focus on HourScene.
“I wanted to show people that social media is about more than being private,” said Javier, who also works as a support engineer for an e-commerce company on the Eastside.
HourScene came to be because of a small, but effective team that includes two remote developers, Javier’s girlfriend (who deals with the legal side of the business).
“We’re kind of keeping it in the family,” Javier said.
His cousin recently joined the team to work with advertisers and help develop the “Featured Scenes” tool they intend to launch next month.
The tool, which is expected to launch next month will allow companies to sponsor individual hashtags. When users see sponsored Featured Scenes that they like, they can save them and redeem them later or share them with the world; businesses will be charged per click.
Javier said they plan to reach out to local business for the “featured Scenes” section before growing their network.
Javier said one of the biggest hurdles in developing HourScene was choosing the right color of purple for the app because different screens show the color in different ways. They chose purple because it stood out from the other colors associated with existing social media apps.
“Me and my girlfriend probably went through 200 different variations of purple.”
The other challenge? Getting the word out.
“You could have a great app, but if you don’t market it properly, no one will know about it.”
That’s why they’ll be taking the app on the road, to the Las Vegas Foodie Festival next April, where they hope to share HourScene with a new audience.
Javier said he plans on developing other applications in the future, but for now, HourScene is his passion.
“I really like social networking and I wish people would post stuff more publicly.”
HourScene is available to iPhone users for free now. Javier and his team hope to roll out a new version for Android and Windows in the next few months. Ultimately, they hope to launch HourScene worldwide.
The HourScene app is developed by Dynamic Intel Group, LLC, a mobile application company founded in 2013 and headquartered in Bellevue. For more information, go to hourscene.com.
