Mediaboss Marketing

Daniel DeSouza wants to create a social network platform uniquely focused on Caribbean people. (Picture by Ricardo Leacock.)

ALL DANIEL DESOUZA needs is some funding and he will be ready to revolutionise social networking for the Caribbean.

DeSouza has his sights set on creating the first truly unique social network geared to Caribbean people. It is called Cariblime, and while it is ready right now for signing up, it is still quite short of DeSouzas vision.

Cariblime is a social media network specifically for Caribbean people designed to connect the Caribbean in a platform unique to us. I was on Facebook one day and read a comment saying how it was sending your private information to overseas interests and they didnt like that.

So I started thinking. What can I do to fix that? Then it hit me. Why not have our own social network? America has its own network, so does China so why not the Caribbean? I did some searching and found out there was no such network, so I started one, he said.

DeSouza, a trained graphic artist/web designer, said there was a world of possibilities but it all hinged on whether he could get the appropriate backing.

So far everything is coming out of my pocket. Ive been reaching out to corporate Barbados for funding as this has the opportunity to earn foreign exchange by selling ads. It has earned interest from the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation, though no funding thus far.

I need to hire coders and get to brainstorming right now I am on my own. I am very confident; I honestly believe I am on the right path and that Cariblime can be a success I just need the funding. I dont want it to be a case where a foreign entity sees what Im trying to do and puts something together faster, he said.

DeSouza did not want to fully reveal his idea as yet but did speak of some of the ways the site could be useful to Caribbean people.

We have a unique opportunity to bring something never seen before, an opportunity to see things differently and solve problems never even thought of. Whats different is we will be implementing new features which reflect us such as unique emojis. We say things in our own language so we have the opportunity to bring on a much more expressive and interactive platform for Caribbean people.

There is a place for businesses as well. The world looks to the Caribbean as a vacation spot, but the world needs to see us as more than sea and sun but as a business place as well, so I also plan to put in a business section where businesses can place their logos and link back to their websites, he said.

In addition, DeSouza said there could be a dating site as part of Cariblime and a mobile app. In the meantime he said he was seeking a proper hosting plan to enable the faster loading of videos on the site.

As a programmer, DeSouza said one of his pet peeves was the lack of visionary employment available for those with those skills. He said it was more profitable in Barbados to try your hand making craft than creating unique online content.

Cariblime was launched April 14 and has more than 50 members so far. DeSouza said the feedback so far had been positive. Anyone interested in signing up can go to https://www.cariblime.net.

More:
Social network plan for Caribbean - Nation News