Spring Break
New social network stays college-only
Academically geared site hopes to fulfill needs of college student, include professor input
Aleks Cherednichenko
Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: News
|
"Everyone can use Facebook," says a message on the main page of the social utility site.
Last year, Facebook.com decided to open its doors to a larger variety of internet users, and not just college students. College.com offers a different kind of network.
"We just want to be everything to the college student," said Jon Davidman, the president of College.com. "Facebook and MySpace want to be everything to everyone, and they should be compared to each other."
College.com is not simply a social utility site, though that is one of its elements. The site's focus is on academics, incorporating features from Blackboard, Webmail and Facebook.
"It's a networking site geared toward academics," said Whittney Laws, the public relations manager for College.com.
College students sign up for website services through a certain college network. The home screen pops up each time a student logs on, displaying friend requests, messages, weather, news links, friend activity and upcoming events.
Since its launch, the site has attracted 15,000 students nationwide, from schools as various as the University of Oregon and Florida State University.
"It's so great to be able to find people your own age to connect with," Laws said. "When Facebook opened up its network to everyone, we saw a grand opportunity to recapture this market," Davidman said.
Students have the option of adding courses they are enrolled in, which automatically links people in the same class together. The site also gives members the ability to rate professors, blog and study right online by using the flashcard option.
"We have created a site that includes feature that improve the student's day-to-day organizations and enhances their overall college experience," Davidman said.
The site even includes "wake-up call" and "bad date call" features that ring your phone at any time the student chooses. Students must enter a verified phone number in their profile setting to access this feature.
"Professors can also log into the website," Laws said. The site allows educators to upload class lecture notes onto the website for students enrolled in their course to use. "Our academic section acts as a virtual classroom and will eventually allow students to view live lectures and even podcasts."
Currently there are nine OSU students registered with the site; 268 are registered at the University of Oregon.
"We are already seeing viral growth in the site and expect to have 1,000-plus registered a day by mid-Novemeber," Davidman said.
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Comments by registered users are approved by default.