Contra (app)
 | |
| Available in | English[1] |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Founder(s) | Rohan Kapur and Lenny Khazan |
| Industry | Software |
| Employees | 2 |
| Website | contra-app |
| Registration | Required to post, follow, or be followed |
| Launched | April 13, 2015[1] |
| Current status | Active |
| Written in | Node.js,[3] Go,[3] Objective-C[3] |
Contra (/ˈk[invalid input: 'ä']n-trə/) is a social opinions platform based in Singapore and Long Island, New York. It allows users to debate and vote on different user-submitted topics.[4] It was created in January 2014 by Rohan Kapur and Lenny Khazan and published on the Apple App Store on April 13, 2015.
Founding[edit]
Contra was established in January, 2014,[5] by the app's cofounders Rohan Kapur and Lenny Khazan. The two met in June 2013 at Apple's annual developer's conference, WWDC, which they both attended on a student scholarship.[2] Khazan and Kapur were both 14 years old and were among the youngest to attend the conference. Khazan, who was in his second year of attendance,[6][7] was already an experienced iOS developer, with apps such as the popular puzzle game Tertiary! under his belt.[8][9] Kapur was in his first year of attendance, but he too had some software development experience from previous apps such as Travelog,[5] and the two decided to collaborate on several projects together. In January 2014,[5] Kapur pitched the idea for a social debating app called "Contra" to Khazan. In March, they started working on the development of their app and they finished the first version toward the end of March, 2015.[10] A few weeks later, it was published on the Apple App Store and was later featured in Apple's Best New Apps, Take a Poll, and 20 Under 20 collections.[10] The reason for creating Contra, according to Kapur, was that “nowadays, news articles are too complex, long, and short-sided (by design). With Contra, you can be well-informed on any circumstance (be it a product comparison, political stance, or current affair) through concise and informed opinions from enthusiasts all around the world.”[11]
Features[edit]
Topics[edit]
Topics are publicly visible, two-sided questions to be debated on.[12] An example of a topic would be "Does Artificial Intelligence really pose a threat to humanity?", where users can vote on the two sides, such as "Yes" or "No".[2] The votes for each side are tallied live, with a vote counter next to each of the two choices.[13] The first choice is in a green box while the second choice is in a blue box, and a bar at the bottom of the topic shows how much the public opinion leans toward one choice or the other. Topics can be assigned a category that they fit into when created, such as philosophy, technology, or fashion; this can make it easier for users to find topics that they are interested in.[14]
Contras[edit]
Contras are essentially publicly given opinions on a topic.[12][14] Users can write their opinions on the topic and can also vote on other people's contras, upvoting or downvoting based on whether they agree with the opinion.[14] The user's name and profile picture are next to the contra, as it is not an anonymous opinion.[14] The profile picture is highlighted in either green or blue, denoting which choice the user voted for. As of version 1.0.2, users can be neutral in their contras, meaning that they don't take a side.[1] This makes the highlight on their profile pictures be gray.
Feeds[edit]
Contra has three different feeds that can be used to find topics of interest.
- Social — The "Social" feed includes topics that have been published by, contra'd by, or shared by someone that the user follows.[1][14]
- Interesting — The "Interesting" feed has popular topics from categories that the user subscribes to. The user can curate their interesting feed by choosing from which categories they are interested in looking at topics.[1][14]
- Hot — The "Hot" feed has the current most popular trending topics on Contra, with a high amount of votes, contras, or shares.[1][12][14]
Controversy[edit]
Amos Yee[edit]
In March 2015, the famous Singaporean YouTuber and former child actor Amos Yee made comments that portrayed the former 1st Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, in a bad light following Lee's death. Yee compared the former leader to Jesus and portrayed both in a negative light, and also uploaded an image of Lee having coitus with Margaret Thatcher, both of which led to his subsequent arrest and four-week jail sentence after the guilty verdict. Many of Contra's Singaporean users contested the results of Yee's trial, sparking debate about whether his sentence was just.[15]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Contra - Social opinions platform", iTunes
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Contra for iOS launches - Aims to Disrupt Traditional News", prMac, April 21, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Lenny Khazan", Twitter
- ↑ Smudis TV, "Contra - iOS App Review", Youtube, April 19, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Kaleb Butt, "Teen Developers – Rohan Kapur", Coolsmartphone, February 26, 2015
- ↑ Ann Friedman, "Lenny Khazan wins again: Woodmere Middle School student claims Apple scholarship for second time, Five Towns Herald, July 3, 2013
- ↑ Stephen J. Bronner, "Young Programmer Attends Apple Conference: Woodmere Middle School student wins scholarship for access to one of the biggest tech events of the year", Five Towns Patch, July 2, 2012
- ↑ Casey Tschida, "Today's Best Apps: Word Wheels, Tertiary And Micro Racing", AppAdvice, March 17, 2013
- ↑ "Tertiary", Top App Charts
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Contra - Social opinions platform", Facebook
- ↑ Rohan Kapur, "Contra: Get educated on any circumstance via crowdsourced opinions", Product Hunt
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Jess Bolluyt, "7 Fun Tech Products to Download and Try This Week", The Cheat Sheet, April 21, 2015
- ↑ Jasmine Phat, "Put your conscience to the test with ‘Contra’: Worldly topics and opinions are put onto the ultimate scale.", Southwest Shadow, May 3, 2015
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 Engineers.SG, "Show & Tell: Contra - Social Opinions Platform - iOS Dev Scout", Youtube, May 18, 2015
- ↑ Contra App, topic "Did Amos Yee's actions warrant such a conviction?" by Lenny Khazan
This article "Contra (app)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
