SocialMedia Platform
Full-stack MERN social app with Socket.IO & 2FA
Overview
A full-stack MERN social media application covering the core social product surface: profiles, posts, engagement, and real-time messaging. Built to get hands-on with the harder parts of a social app — real-time infrastructure and account security — rather than just CRUD screens.
Technical Architecture & Specifications
Key Features & Implementation Highlights
- Two-factor authentication on top of standard JWT login
- Profile management and image uploads
- Posts with likes and comments
- Real-time chat powered by Socket.IO
- Dark/light UI modes
Challenges & Tradeoffs
Adding two-factor authentication on top of JWT login introduced a significant UX and implementation tradeoff. Standard JWT auth is stateless and fast, but 2FA requires a server-side verification step that temporarily stalls the login flow. The decision to implement 2FA was driven by the real-time messaging feature — Socket.IO chat means an unauthorized session has access to live conversations, not just static data. The tradeoff is a slightly slower login experience and more complex session management (the JWT is only issued after both factors are verified), but it prevents a stolen password from granting access to private conversations.