TAT: Former Razorback Makes Mark on the Diamond and in the App Store

This article originally appeared in the August 26, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

The greatest ideas often come at unusual times. For Jacob Morris, his idea hit him at about 1 a.m. when he couldn’t sleep.

Morris, a former Arkansas outfielder, wanted to create a social media application for iPhones. His idea has become reality with XpressPoll, an app where users can post poll questions and share them on Twitter and Facebook.

However, creating XpressPoll did not happen over night. The days following his idea were full of research.

“I looked at a couple articles and researched various successful social media applications,” Morris said.

One of Morris’ best friends, Drew Robertson, also helped him grow his idea, but neither had any background in creating apps, as they majored in communications and accounting, respectively.

Instead, they had to reach out to a company, Amos Digital Media Services in Rogers, Ark., for help.

“They’re the ones that actually built (the app),” Morris said, “but the idea and outline of everything was me.”

When he came back from Christmas break, Morris began to solidify his idea and meet with Amos Digital on a regular basis, but he had to work around a prior obligation: playing outfield for the preseason No. 1 baseball team in the country.

“Our off-days for baseball were every Monday, so we would either meet in Fayetteville or drive up to Rogers and meet on Monday mornings,” Morris said.

Developing the app continued throughout the season and even after Morris was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 24th round of the MLB Draft.

Finally, on July 10, the day after he went 3-for-4 with a home run and a double in his 13th game for the Great Falls Voyagers, the Rookie League affiliate of the White Sox, XpressPoll launched.

Since the launch, his former teammates with the Razorbacks and current teammates with the Voyagers have embraced the app with open arms.

“I get some jokes about it,” Morris said. “One guy calls me Mr. Zuckerberg, but they use (the app). We have about half of the team on it now. They do some pretty funny polls around the clubhouse and they have a good time.”

While Morris admits that he would like to create more apps, he said that his main focus right now is playing baseball.

“When I’m not at the field, (XpressPoll) keeps my mind on something else,” Morris said. “I would love XpressPoll to grow into something I could consider my job, but right now I’m very content with my job playing baseball.”

Because XpressPoll is a free app on the Apple App Store, Morris doesn’t make a profit from it and that isn’t his concern.

“I’m not worried about monetizing it at this moment,” Morris said. “I’m more worried about growing the user base. When we first started, we focused our goals on growing the user base.”

As Morris’ season progresses, he will continue to balance his time with baseball and XpressPoll.

The highest profile person on the app is Detroit Tigers, and former Arkansas, pitcher Drew Smyly, Morris said. Getting people like Smyly to join is vital to the app’s success.

“The more people you tell about it, the more fun you’ll have on it,” Morris said.

For people that are already very active on social media, XpressPoll is a way to complement their Facebook and Twitter.

“It’s a great way to interact with your friends and followers,” Morris said. “(You can) post opinion-based polls and share them through Facebook and Twitter and get instant feedback.”

The app can be downloaded in the Apple App Store for free by searching for XpressPoll. It is not available for Android devices yet, but Morris said he hopes it will be in the future.