Architecture

Campusbook is a lightweight Facebook-style social network focused on real-name profiles, a ranked feed, campus groups, messaging, and event discovery.

System shape#

• A web client renders the feed, profiles, groups, and messaging surfaces.
• An API layer handles authentication, feed ranking, posting, reactions, notifications, and admin tools.
• Background jobs process media, fan out notifications, and recompute feed candidates when posts trend.
• A relational data model stores users, posts, comments, relationships, groups, and notifications.

Primary product loops#

Publish and distribute#

1. A user creates a post with text, media, or a group audience.
2. The API stores the post and schedules media processing plus feed fan-out.
3. Followers, friends, or group members see the content in ranked feed units.
4. Reactions and comments feed back into ranking and notification jobs.

Identity and community#

1. Every account has a real profile, cover image, and structured interests.
2. Users connect through friend requests, campus groups, and event attendance.
3. The home feed combines friend activity with recommended community content.

Boundaries worth documenting#

• Feed ranking should stay isolated from rendering logic so experiments do not leak into the frontend.
• Media processing is asynchronous and should not block post creation.
• Notification delivery should support in-app, email, and push channels with a shared preferences layer.