Editor’s note: A previous version of this article spelled Samuel Ojogbo’s last name as Ojogbu. The article should have spelled the last name as Ojogbo. The Daily Illini regrets the error.

F.O.M.O. — the fear of missing out — is at an all-time high for college students, especially for Uduimoh Umoluss, University alumnus.

When he arrived to campus in 2011, he thoroughly enjoyed the party scene. Being so outgoing, he wanted to attend every event that he could. But there was only one thing missing: a way to be informed of these events.

“It’s such an organic problem that we don’t realize we have. I was looking for a seamless platform that combines everything in one,” Umolu said.

After five years filled with sleepless nights and countless times going back to the drawing board, Umolu and three other students came together to design a mobile app designated solely for social events: The Mouve. This application just debuted on Feb. 16.

Samuel Ojogboss, University alumnus and co-creator, said the team has been focusing on marketing and feedback since its launch this February.

“Right now, we’re working on perfecting our marketing strategy, which is what will drive the app,” Ojogbo said. “We’re also getting constant feedback from our users on things that we can improve and bugs that we can fix.”

The app’s launch, however, wasn’t always easy. The application was initially denied by the App Store.

“It took a great deal of work,” Ojogbo said. “We got denied by the App Store once for some functionalities, but we were able to update them and move forward.”

Since its launch, Ojogbo said he hopes the application can especially help people new to campus, like international students.

“I work with a lot of international students,” he said. “I’m an international student myself.”

The February launch all began when Umolu shared his idea with Ojogbo. They both realized that they had the same goal, so they decided to collaborate. Eventually, they also met Marco Fabregass, University alumnus, who had also been working on a similar idea, “The Scene.” In this potential application, Fabrega tried to unite social events through a platform. Shortly after, they joined forces with Hilal Habashiss, a senior in Engineering.

“We all had different problems but about the same topic. It was all about discovering what’s happening around you and how to easily connect with the people you want to,” Fabrega said.

To use The Mouve, you start off by creating an account. Once your account is created, the app takes your location and provides a list of events, created by its users from a radius of your preference.

“We all hear about events that are going to happen two to three weeks from now, but we wanted to think about what a person can do on a rainy day or a day where they have free time,” Fabrega said.

Once users create an event, they can provide details such as the location, time and type of event. Users also have the option to decide which of their friends gets to see the event they created.

“We’re big on privacy, we know that students want to do things with just their friends. With our privacy feature, only people invited to that Mouve will have the option to view it,” Ojogbo said.

The app also contains a newsfeed component, where you can become friends with other users to see what events they are attending. Similar to Instagram, there is an explore page filled with a combination of events from users close to your location.

“The Mouve makes it easier for me to know what’s actually going on instead of constantly texting or asking on Snapchat,” Rasheedat Ogunfemi sssaid, a junior in LAS. “You know where to go, when you should go and who’s there; it’s really helpful, and you don’t waste your time.”

Now that The Mouve is featured in the app store, its creators are focusing on outreach to Champaign bars, businesses and restaurants to increase the events its users are creating.

“We hope we can connect people to all of these events and activities that they might like to do but somehow they are missing out on because they don’t know about it,” Ojogbo said.

Next, The Mouve creators want to reach out to Registered Student Organizations, so the University campus has a way to be informed of all events at once.

“It’s all about creating a platform that people can create, share and discover things happening in a 24-hour period. We really want to create that sense of urgency because a lot of spontaneity happens,” Fabrega said. “There’s really no other app out there that currently exists.”

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