LoveRealm is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

social networking platform A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, act ...

. It was founded by two brothers and medical doctors Yaw Ansong Jr. and Yaw Ansong Sr. The company originates from

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, Ghana, and has

employees Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

from Europe and the US. The social network entered beta in 2016. The website has systems in place such as a mentorship system where users are assigned to mentors whose role is to guide and assist them in personal growth. Additionally, users can post their problems and share “prayer requests” to other members.

History

LoveRealm was started by the brothers after Yaw Ansong Jr. came to believe there was a need for a Christian online network where individuals could support each other and share their beliefs in a protected space.

"I was at a point in my life where I was at my lowest, and I realized that I had struggles and weaknesses and all this started when I found myself in an environment outside my country where there were not many Christians. I thought, If Christians could connect to each other wherever they are and have a platform where they could encourage each other, then it could go a long way to help them," said Dr. Ansong to
Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...
.

The pre-launch ceremony of the social network website was held at the

Pentecost Convention Centre Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC) is located on 250 square acres of land at Gomoa Fetteh in the Central Region of Ghana. Inaugurated in May 2013 with ultra-modern buildings, it is designed to hold conventions for individuals and groups who wish t ...

during the Pentecost Students Association (PENSA) conference on 9 January 2016. At the pre-launch ceremony, the founders collected feedback from randomly selected test users before releasing the website to the public. After the initial target of a few hundred test users, the website experienced technical difficulties as a result of unexpectedly high traffic. Later the issue was fixed by adding space for 2000 more initial users. On 30 August 2016, the company launched a mobile version of their website for

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

users on the Google Play Store. Shortly after the mobile app launch, the platform reached over 20,000 users. Eight months after opening access to the public, the platform reached 50,000 users.

Controversies

On 4 January 2016, BBC published a story explaining that Ghana was to get a ''sin-free'' alternative to Facebook. LoveRealm responded by saying that the network was providing a spiritual social network experience for Christians and not to build ''a salem of righteous people''. The platform censors users by removing content it deems "un-Christian", such as nudity or violence using its built-in monitoring algorithm.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Christian websites Ghanaian social networking websites Establishments in Ghana