Welcome to XINST, a prototype SQL backend system that merges core concepts from two of the most influential social media platforms of our time — X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram .
This project was created as a conceptual model for representing how social media data can be stored, managed, and interacted with in a relational database. XINST stands for a hybrid social platform idea that envisions the visual richness of Instagram blended with the fast-paced, text-first dynamics of X. The name itself reflects this unique combination.
Whether you're a backend developer, a database architect, or a student learning database design, this project offers a real-world inspired schema to explore and experiment with. XINST simulates key social media features such as posting photos and reels, user interactions through likes and comments, content organization with hashtags, and personal content management via bookmarks — all backed by a clean and scalable SQL database structure.
The XINST project is more than just a SQL schema — it's a complete backend blueprint of a modern social networking experience. This relational database prototype is designed using MySQL and covers a wide range of interactions and entities you’d expect from a social media app, including:
User account management with profile information and login tracking Posts that can include photos or reels, simulating visual content uploads Social interactions like following users, liking content, and commenting Media handling for photos and reels, each with independent metadata Content discoverability using hashtags and tagging Data integrity and relationships enforced through foreign key constraints
This project aims to provide a hands-on educational tool and a foundation for backend development. It's ideal for anyone interested in understanding how large-scale social platforms structure their databases, ensuring data consistency while enabling dynamic user interactions.
The ER diagram included in this repository clearly illustrates the connections between entities and the relational design philosophy used throughout the schema. Each table has been thoughtfully created to reflect real-world use cases, and foreign key constraints ensure that every relationship maintains referential integrity.
The XINST project successfully demonstrates a robust and scalable SQL database design that represents a social media ecosystem. This backend prototype captures users essential interactions with content, such as posting photos and reels, liking posts, commenting, bookmarking, and following others.
The schema was carefully structured with clear relationships among users, posts, media (photos and reels), and user activities. Important features like foreign key constraints, null-handling for optional media types, and timestamp tracking were incorporated to reflect real-world data behavior.
Through complex queries and situation-based questions, XINST showcases its capability to handle:
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User engagement tracking
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Content popularity analysis
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Relationship and network analysis between users
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Performance-efficient querying
This project not only serves as a strong prototype for a real-world social media backend, but also lays the foundation for expanding into future components like notifications, direct messaging, user analytics, and AI-driven content recommendations. Ultimately, XINST proves how thoughtful SQL database design can support large-scale, dynamic social media platforms in a clean, efficient, and highly relatable way.