LoveRealm is a Christiansocial networking platform built to connect Christians across the globe. It was founded by triplet brothers and medical doctors Dr. Yaw Ansong Jr. and Dr. Yaw Ansong Snr. The company originates from Accra, Ghana, and has team members from across Europe and USA. The social network is currently in open beta. Besides ensuring a Christ-centered social network experience, another key feature of the platform is its mentorship feature. Users are strategically assigned to a proven mentor 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 Dr. Yaw Ansong Jr. after he realized the need for the Christian online network, where they could support each other and share their belief 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 was not many Christians. I thought to myself if Christians could connect to each other wherever they are and also 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.
The pre-launch ceremony of the social network website was done at the Pentecost Convention Centre at the Pentecost Students Association conference on 9 January 2016. At the pre-launch ceremony founders got the feedback from randomly selected users before opening up to the world. After initial target of few hundred test users, the website crashed due to the huge interest. Later the issue was fixed by adding space for 2000 more initial users. On 30 August 2016, the social networking company launched a mobile version of their website for Android users in Google Play Store. Shortly after the mobile app launch, it reached over 20,000 users. Eight months after opening access to the public, the platform recorded its first 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's CEO 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 ensures faith-based content by censoring and removing “un-Christian content”, such as nudity or violence, with its built-in monitoring algorithm blocks.