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Soul Founder Zhang Lu’s Team: A Decade of Deep Commitment to AI-Powered Social Networking — CTO Tao Ming Outlines the Path to AI-Enabled Authentic Connection

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A Decade of Exploration from Pudong: Soul Founder Zhang Lu’s Team Redefines the Boundaries of Authentic Social Interaction Through AI

Since its launch in 2016, Soul App has grown steadily over the years. In 2025, under the leadership of Soul founder Zhang Lu’s team, Shanghai Soulgate Technology Co., Ltd.(Soul) was named one of Pudong’s “Top Ten Leading Cultural and Creative Enterprises,” establishing itself as a benchmark company for cultural innovation in Pudong. On this occasion, the Oriental Financial Pudong Channel’s “Entering the Leading Zone: Exploring New Cultural Frontiers” interview series invited Soul App CTO Tao Ming on April 13 to discuss how AI technology empowers social interaction and how to understand the emotional needs of young users.

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2025 is widely regarded within the industry as a pivotal year for AI application deployment. Soul founder Zhang Lu’s team has launched new features across multiple areas, including voice group chat rooms, AI companionship, and assisted social interaction. For instance, the platform introduced AI hosts, AI characters, and AI podcasts into group chat scenarios — roles capable of real-time interaction with users that have enriched the layers of online social engagement. Meanwhile, AI companionship features help users receive emotional support in a pressure-free environment. Tao Ming noted that these AI functions have not disrupted the platform’s existing ecosystem of authentic social interaction; rather, they have promoted interpersonal engagement. Some users with limited expressive abilities have been able to initiate conversations more naturally with AI assistance, receive positive feedback, gradually build social confidence, and ultimately move toward genuine human connections.

Looking back at Soul’s developmental logic over nearly a decade, Tao Ming attributed its growth momentum to three key commitments. The first is sustained focus on the emotional value needs of young people. Different generations of young people exhibit different behavioral patterns in social interaction, but emotional value has consistently remained a fundamental need. Soul founder Zhang Lu’s team established the Just So Soul Research Institute, which publishes annual youth trend reports in an effort to understand the psychological needs of new-generation users from both academic and societal perspectives.

The second is early investment in and continuous iteration of AI technology. Since 2017, Soul has been using deep learning and machine learning technologies to build user connection networks. Around 2019, Soul founder Zhang Lu’s team began experimenting with generative AI to assist user expression, helping those less adept at social interaction improve their communication skills. The maturation of large language model technology has further accelerated this process, enabling AI to play a more precise role in recommendation, expression assistance, and content operations.

The third is an unwavering commitment to authentic relationships. Tao Ming emphasized that regardless of how technology evolves, Soul’s ultimate goal has always been to facilitate genuine connections between people. Within the platform, users have organically created a “Civil Affairs Bureau” tag, under which more than 100,000 couples have established real-world marriages through Soul. Recently, Soul also partnered with Pudong to host a group wedding ceremony — a fact that underscores the platform’s tangible effectiveness in fostering offline relationships.

Facing the wave of large AI models, Tao Ming acknowledged that the team has navigated a process marked by both opportunities and challenges. Unlike many technology companies that find themselves “looking for a nail to hit with their hammer,” Soul possesses natural application scenarios, and all AI R&D efforts revolve around solving specific social problems. The technical roadmap covers three primary dimensions: leveraging large models to enhance recommendation and comprehension capabilities for higher-quality user matching; developing AI-assisted tools and AI companion features to lower the barrier to user expression; and on the content side, operating group chat topics and trending discussions through AI podcasts, AI hosts, and AI moderators. Following a strategic recalibration in 2022, Soul has continued to release open-source models and new products through 2025 and the first half of 2026, including full-duplex voice models and real-time video call digital avatar models, sharing these technologies with the broader community through open-source channels.

From 2016 to the present, Soul’s nearly decade-long growth trajectory in Pudong demonstrates that technology can possess warmth and that connection can retain sincerity. The path explored by Soul founder Zhang Lu’s team is not about replacing social interaction with AI, but about making technology a tool for understanding young people and serving their emotional needs — safeguarding the original purpose of social connection at the intersection of the virtual and the real.

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Ai & Tools

Best Social Media Wall Tools for Live Events in 2026

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Live events thrive on participation. Attendees want to share photos, videos, opinions, and reactions—not simply sit and watch. A social media wall for events brings this activity onto a shared screen, turning social conversations into part of the event experience.

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The best social media wall tools collect content from social networks, hashtags, mentions, and user submissions, then display selected posts in real time on event screens, LED walls, digital signage, and other displays. They can also help with moderation, branding, audience engagement, analytics, and user-generated content (UGC).

Whether you are organizing a conference, trade show, festival, corporate event, product launch, wedding, or hybrid event, choosing the right social wall software can help increase audience participation and extend your event’s social reach.

In this guide, we cover some of the best social media wall tools for live events, including Social Walls by Taggbox, Flockler, Juicer, Idukki, SocialWall Pro, and Everwall.

What Is a Social Media Wall?

A social media wall is a live digital display that collects and showcases social media content from multiple platforms in one place. Event organizers can typically collect posts using hashtags, usernames, mentions, profiles, or other content sources and display approved content on large screens.

For example, attendees at a conference can post a photo on Instagram using the event hashtag. A social media wall for events can collect that post, moderate it, and display it on a screen at the venue.

Social walls can be displayed on:

  • LED screens and video walls
  • TVs and event screens
  • Digital signage displays
  • Stage screens
  • Exhibition booths
  • Conference displays
  • Virtual and hybrid event platforms

Beyond displaying social posts, modern social wall platforms can include UGC collection, moderation, analytics, polls, leaderboards, reactions, and other audience engagement features.

Why Use a Social Media Wall at Your Event?

A social wall can turn social media activity into a visible and interactive part of your event. Instead of keeping attendee conversations confined to individual phones, you can bring them into the physical event space.

Increase Audience Engagement

A live social wall gives attendees a reason to participate. When people see their posts, photos, or comments appearing on the big screen, they are more likely to contribute.

Encourage User-Generated Content

Events naturally generate valuable UGC. A social media wall makes it easy to collect and showcase attendee-created photos, videos, and posts throughout the event.

Create Real-Time Event Buzz

Displaying live social content makes the event feel active and connected. Attendees can see what other participants are saying and sharing in real time.

Increase Social Media Visibility

A branded event hashtag displayed throughout the venue can encourage more attendees to post and use the hashtag, helping extend the conversation beyond the event.

Improve Sponsor Visibility

Social walls can provide additional opportunities to showcase sponsor logos, branded content, announcements, and campaign messages alongside event content.

Make Events More Interactive

Many social wall tools now go beyond content aggregation. Features such as polls, Q&A, reactions, contests, and leaderboards can make a live social wall an active audience engagement channel.

Top Social Media Wall Tools for Events

There are many social media wall platforms available, but they differ in supported networks, customization, moderation, engagement features, analytics, and event-focused capabilities. Here are six tools worth considering for conferences, trade shows, festivals, corporate events, and other live experiences.

Social Walls by Taggbox

Social Walls Used at ISAPS

Social Walls by Taggbox is an event-focused social media wall tool designed to collect, curate, and display social content across live event screens and digital displays. It supports content aggregation from 15+ social platforms and can be used for conferences, trade shows, brand activations, virtual events, and hybrid events.

The platform combines social media aggregation with UGC collection, customization, audience engagement, analytics, and event display capabilities. Its SnapUp feature can also let attendees submit photos and other content through QR-code-based uploads.

Features

  • Social media aggregation from 15+ platforms
  • Live social media feeds for event screens
  • Hashtag and user-based content collection
  • UGC collection and display
  • SnapUp QR-code content uploads
  • Customizable themes and layouts
  • Content moderation and filtering
  • Real-time updates
  • Audience engagement features
  • Polls, reactions, quizzes, and leaderboards
  • Sponsor and branded content placements
  • Social wall analytics
  • Event and digital signage support
  • Virtual and hybrid event support
  • 24/7 customer support

Benefits

  • All-in-one event experience: Combine social walls, UGC collection, engagement, and live displays in one platform.
  • More attendee participation: Encourage guests to share content and interact with the event.
  • Flexible screen display: Publish social content across event screens and digital signage.
  • Better event insights: Measure content performance and audience interaction after the event.

Flockler

Flockler is a social media aggregation and display platform that can be used to collect and showcase content at events and on digital screens. It supports multiple social platforms and allows teams to create walls, grids, carousels, and slideshows.

Features

  • Multi-platform social media aggregation
  • Social walls, grids, carousels, and slideshows
  • Event hashtag feeds
  • Custom submission forms
  • Content moderation
  • Custom branding and layouts
  • Digital screen publishing
  • Analytics
  • Multi-user management

Benefits

  • Multiple display formats
  • Useful for events and digital signage
  • Supports content moderation and filtering

Juicer

Juicer is a social media aggregation platform that combines content from multiple social networks into customizable feeds and social walls. It supports 15+ social channels and can be used to aggregate hashtags and social content for events.

Features

  • Social media aggregation
  • Hashtag aggregation
  • Social media moderation
  • Content filtering
  • Customizable social walls
  • Content curation
  • Analytics
  • Multiple feed layouts

Benefits

  • Simple social media aggregation
  • Useful for displaying event content
  • Customizable social feed designs

Idukki

Idukki is a social media aggregation and UGC platform that can help brands collect social content and display it through customized feeds. It is suitable for businesses looking to bring user-generated content and social media posts together for marketing and event experiences.

Features

  • Social media content aggregation
  • UGC collection
  • Social feed display
  • Content moderation
  • Customizable layouts
  • Hashtag-based content collection

Benefits

  • Helps collect attendee-generated content
  • Useful for branded social displays
  • Supports social content curation
  • Can help showcase event conversations

SocialWall Pro

SocialWall Pro is specifically focused on creating social walls for live audiences and events. It supports event types such as conferences, trade shows, concerts, festivals, sports events, corporate meetings, and brand activations.

Features

  • Social media aggregation
  • Content moderation and filtering
  • Customizable event templates
  • Branding options
  • Contests
  • Sponsor promotions
  • Event analytics

Benefits

  • Designed for live events
  • Supports gamification and contests
  • Useful for sponsor-focused event experiences

Everwall

Everwall is an event-focused social wall platform designed to display real-time social content on event screens. It supports multiple content sources and provides tools for moderation, customization, announcements, polls, and leaderboards.

Features

  • Real-time social media wall
  • Multi-source content aggregation
  • Hashtag and keyword monitoring
  • Content filtering
  • Manual moderation
  • Custom layouts

Benefits

  • Built for event experiences
  • Real-time display capabilities
  • Useful moderation and filtering tools

How to Choose the Best Social Media Wall Tool for Your Event?

The right social media wall software depends on your event format, audience size, display requirements, and engagement goals.

Before choosing a platform, consider:

Social Network Support

Make sure the tool supports the platforms your attendees actually use.

Real-Time Updates

For live events, content should appear quickly without requiring manual screen refreshes.

Content Moderation

Look for moderation and filtering controls so you can decide which attendee posts appear publicly.

Customization

Your social wall should match your event branding, including colors, logos, layouts, and backgrounds.

Audience Engagement

If interaction is a priority, consider tools with polls, Q&A, reactions, contests, or gamification.

UGC Collection

Features such as QR-code uploads can help attendees contribute content even without posting publicly on social media.

Analytics

Event analytics can help you measure social activity, participation, reach, and content performance.

Screen Compatibility

Check whether the platform works with your LED walls, TVs, digital signage, projectors, or event display setup.

Conclusion

A social media wall for live events can transform attendee posts and conversations into an interactive part of the event. Instead of letting social content remain on individual feeds, event organizers can bring it onto large screens where everyone can see, engage with, and contribute to the conversation.

Tools such as Social Walls by Taggbox, Flockler, Juicer, Idukki, SocialWall Pro, and Everwall offer different approaches to social aggregation, content moderation, customization, UGC, and audience engagement.

For event organizers, the best social media wall tool is ultimately the one that matches their event goals. If you need more than a basic social feed, look for a platform like Social Walls by Taggbox that combines live social media aggregation, UGC collection, QR-code uploads, event engagement, moderation, customizable displays, and analytics in one solution.

With the right event social wall, your audience doesn’t just watch the event—they become part of the experience.

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Why More Small Businesses Are Turning To Short Video

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Walk down any high street in Lincolnshire, and you will find independent businesses full of real character and run by people who pour everything into them. You will also find them facing the same modern challenge: getting noticed online in a world where attention is scarce and competition is fierce. Increasingly, the answer they are reaching for is short video. Once the exclusive territory of big brands with production budgets and marketing departments, snappy promotional clips are now something a one-person business can make on a quiet afternoon, and the results can be surprisingly effective.

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Why Video, And Why Now

Social media platforms have spent years pushing video to the very top of everyone’s feed, and audiences have followed where the platforms led. A short clip of a freshly baked batch coming out of the oven, a new arrival in the shop, or a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how something is made simply reaches more people than a photograph or a block of text ever will. The platforms reward video with reach, and that reach is too valuable for any small business to ignore.

For an independent firm competing for local attention, this matters enormously. A well-made short clip can put your business in front of hundreds or thousands of local people for nothing more than the time it took to make it, which is a kind of reach that traditional advertising could never have offered a small budget.

The Barrier Used To Be Real

The problem, for years, was that video felt completely out of reach for the average small business. Filming, editing, adding titles and music, and polishing a clip into something shareable looked like a job for someone with specialist skills and expensive software, neither of which most shop owners had any reason to possess. So the footage, if it was captured at all, sat unused on a phone, and the opportunity passed.

That assumption kept a lot of capable, interesting businesses off video entirely, while bigger competitors with marketing teams filled the feeds. The gap was less about ideas and more about the practical difficulty of production.

The Barrier Comes Down

That has changed, and quickly. A café or a garden centre can now brief an ai video generator with a handful of photos and end up with a fifteen-second clip ready for Instagram before the lunch rush. There is no editing suite to master and no steep learning curve to climb, just a few images, a clear idea of the message, and a tool that handles the assembly.

For businesses where the owner is also the marketer, the buyer, the cleaner, and everything in between, that simplicity is the entire point. When making a clip takes minutes rather than an evening, it actually gets done, week after week, and the business builds a real presence instead of an empty profile.

Making Clips That Work

A few basics go a long way toward making your video earn its keep. Keep clips short and lead with your strongest moment, because people decide within the first second or two whether to keep watching. Film in good light, hold the phone steady, and capture a little more footage than you think you will need so you have options when you come to put it together.

Always include a clear message and a reason to act, whether that is your opening hours, a special offer, a new product, or simply a warm invitation to come and visit. A beautiful clip that gives the viewer no reason to do anything is a missed opportunity. The Federation of Small Businesses has highlighted how vital a strong digital presence has become for independent firms, and short video is one of the most effective and affordable ways to build one without a marketing department behind you.

Build The Habit

The businesses that get the most from video are the ones that treat it as a regular habit rather than a one-off experiment. You do not need to produce something polished every single day. Capturing one good clip a week, showing whatever is happening in your business at that moment, is enough to build a steady, engaging presence over time.

Consistency beats perfection here. A steady stream of simple, honest clips will do far more for your visibility than one highly produced video followed by months of silence. The rhythm is what keeps you in front of your local audience.

Worth A Try This Week

The best way to start is simply to start, and to start small. Film one short clip of something happening in your business this week, put it together with one of the easy tools now available, and post it. The first attempt is rarely perfect, and that genuinely does not matter, because the habit builds quickly and so does the audience.

For Lincolnshire’s independent businesses, short video is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to stay visible in a crowded online world. The tools have never been easier to use, and the only real barrier left is taking that first step.

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Challenges of AI Testing and How to Overcome Them

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Challenges of AI Testing and How to Overcome Them

Introduction

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Software development has accelerated significantly with Agile, DevOps, and continuous delivery practices. As release cycles become shorter, QA teams face increasing pressure to maintain software quality without slowing development. Traditional testing methods alone often struggle to keep pace with modern applications, leading organizations to adopt AI testing as a smarter approach to quality assurance.

By combining artificial intelligence with automation, AI testing helps teams create, execute, and optimize tests more efficiently while improving defect detection and reducing maintenance efforts. Although techniques like black box testing remain essential for validating mobile application behavior from the user’s perspective, AI enhances these testing processes by making them faster, more intelligent, and more adaptive.

What Is AI Testing?

AI testing is the application of artificial intelligence technologies such as machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and computer vision to improve software testing activities. AI-powered testing tools can assist with generating test cases, maintaining automation, prioritizing test execution, identifying defects, and providing actionable insights. 

AI enables testing teams to focus on high-risk areas while automating repetitive tasks, ultimately improving testing efficiency and software quality.

Benefits of AI Testing

1. Faster Test Execution

AI analyzes code changes and historical results to prioritize the most critical test cases, reducing execution time while maintaining comprehensive coverage.

2. Improved Test Coverage

AI generates additional test scenarios based on application behavior, user interactions, and historical defect patterns, helping teams uncover issues that manual testing may overlook.

3. Reduced Test Maintenance

Traditional automation scripts often fail when applications change. AI-powered self-healing capabilities automatically update locators and scripts, significantly reducing maintenance efforts.

4. Earlier Defect Detection

By continuously analyzing test results and application behavior, AI identifies potential defects earlier in the development lifecycle, lowering the cost of fixing issues.

5. Smarter Test Prioritization

Instead of executing every test after each release, AI determines which areas are most likely to be affected by recent code changes and prioritizes testing accordingly.

AI Testing vs Traditional Testing

Traditional automation depends heavily on predefined rules and manually maintained scripts. While it remains highly effective, maintaining large automation suites becomes increasingly difficult as applications evolve.

AI testing enhances traditional automation by:

  • Automatically generating test cases
  • Predicting high-risk application areas
  • Self-healing broken automation scripts
  • Optimizing regression test execution
  • Detecting visual and behavioral anomalies

Rather than replacing traditional testing, AI complements existing QA processes to improve efficiency and scalability.

Common Use Cases of AI Testing

Organizations are implementing AI testing across multiple testing disciplines, including:

Regression Testing

AI identifies impacted application areas and executes only the most relevant regression tests, reducing execution time while maintaining quality.

Visual Testing

Computer vision detects unintended UI changes across browsers, devices, and screen sizes with greater accuracy than traditional pixel-based comparisons.

Mobile Application Testing

AI improves device coverage by automatically adapting test cases across different operating systems, screen resolutions, and hardware configurations.

Continuous Testing

Integrated into CI/CD pipelines, AI enables continuous validation after every code commit, supporting faster and more reliable software releases.

AI Testing and Black Box Testing

One of the most valuable applications of AI is enhancing black box testing. In traditional black box testing, testers validate software functionality without examining the application’s internal code. They focus entirely on inputs, outputs, and expected user behavior.

AI strengthens black box testing by:

  • Automatically generating user-focused test scenarios
  • Identifying missing functional coverage
  • Predicting high-risk workflows
  • Detecting unexpected application behavior
  • Improving regression testing efficiency

This combination allows QA teams to validate applications from an end-user perspective while benefiting from AI-driven automation and analytics.

Best Practices for AI Testing

To successfully implement AI testing, organizations should follow these best practices:

Start with High-Value Automation

Begin by automating repetitive regression, smoke, and functional testing scenarios before expanding AI capabilities.

Combine AI with Manual Testing

AI handles repetitive validation efficiently, while experienced testers continue performing exploratory testing, usability testing, and complex business scenario validation.

Integrate with CI/CD

Deploy AI-powered testing within continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines to receive rapid feedback after every code change.

Maintain High-Quality Data

AI models rely on historical test results and defect data. Clean, accurate datasets improve prediction accuracy and test recommendations.

Monitor AI Performance

Regularly review AI-generated test cases, defect predictions, and self-healed scripts to ensure consistent testing quality.

Challenges of AI Testing

Despite its advantages, organizations should consider several challenges:

  • Initial implementation complexity
  • Learning curve for QA teams
  • Dependence on historical testing data
  • Integration with legacy systems
  • Potential false positives during early adoption
  • Ongoing monitoring of AI-generated recommendations

Addressing these challenges through gradual adoption and continuous improvement helps maximize long-term value.

Conclusion

AI testing is transforming modern software quality assurance by combining intelligent automation with predictive analytics and machine learning. It helps organizations reduce manual effort, accelerate regression testing, improve test coverage, and identify defects earlier in the software development lifecycle.

At the same time, established testing techniques such as black box testing continue to play a vital role in validating application functionality from the user’s perspective. When AI-powered automation is combined with proven testing methodologies, QA teams can build more efficient testing processes, deliver higher-quality software, and confidently support faster release cycles in today’s rapidly evolving development environments.

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