Abstract
DoorList has become UVA (University of Virginia) GreekLife’s default event management tool. On the surface you see a sleek, harmless way of inviting partygoers and ensuring that verified guests are admitted while uninvited attendees are denied entry. At its core, however, DoorList reinforces a rigid socio-economic hierarchy that disproportionately benefits wealthy, white students. The results of interviews, artifact analysis, and systematic review of social media discourse and existing literature, frame UVA Greek life as a microcosm of wealth stratification. There exists a shared social reality where some Greek chapters are considered better or worse than others.
The “better” houses are often associated with wealth, whiteness, attractiveness, and exclusivity. DoorList became a credential whereby having a DoorList invitation from a “top” fraternity or sending invitations “top” sorority girls to your parties becomes a visible symbol of belonging to one of these high status groups. As a result, these “better” fraternities in turn use DoorList to exclusively invite and admit sororities with similar status to their events, creating an insulated, homogeneous social group of disproportionately white and wealthy students. Furthermore, DoorList’s sleek user-interface increases the perceived credibility of denial by making exclusion appear procedural rather than personal, meaning more students tend to abide by it as it makes power harder to contest. Those inside of the ‘desirable’ group form friendships, allyships, and relationships that later translate to advantages in the labor market where they activate as referrals, internships, job offers, promotions, and deals. Those outside of the ‘desirable’ group are not privy to these same advantages.
In many families and friend groups, especially those spread across cities, states, or countries, staying meaningfully connected in everyday life is harder than it appears. While messaging platforms and social media make communication technically easy, they often fail to support low-pressure, authentic sharing within close family units. Group chats become noisy or transactional, social media feels performative or public, and video calls require time coordination
that is difficult across busy schedules. As a result, families and close friends often know major life updates but miss the small, everyday moments that help sustain emotional closeness over time.
Proof of Life is a private photo-sharing application designed to support lightweight, authentic connection rather than performance-driven social interaction. Members of a small, predefined group can create one daily “proof of life” post consisting of a single photo with an optional caption responding to a meaningful prompt. Limiting posts to one per day keeps participation simple, reduces pressure to curate content, and reinforces the app’s focus on presence rather than performance. To encourage daily posting, users receive automated reminders and additionally maintain a ‘streak’ that tracks how many days in a row everybody
within a group shares their “proof of life”. This design distinguishes Proof of Life from mainstream social media by prioritizing privacy, simplicity, and presence over engagement and visibility.
While both projects deal with how digital tools structure interpersonal relationships, DoorList and Proof of Life represent opposite ends of the spectrum. One organizes access in a way that deepens exclusion while the other is built to reduce pressure and strengthen belonging. DoorList harms students' sense of community by promoting status-based separation that intensifies rank, comparison, and social closure. Proof of Life helps to remediate that injury by fostering quiet, consistent connections that encourage regular presence without public performance or competition. These projects both demonstrate digital tools are not neutral and possess the ability to harden or soften social boundaries. Together, they show how digital platforms can either intensify social stratification or support community by lowering the cost of staying connected.
