Many people are unaware that long before Facebook became a worldwide phenomenon, it was a small social networking site for college students only. For that reason, longtime users complained when they had to adjust to the change.
Three University of Massachusetts Amherst students took advantage of this opportunity and decided to build a brand new social networking platform for college students.
CampusLive.com launched in 2008 as a student resource website with local restaurant listings and reviews, weather updates, links to campus resources such as e-mail and more. A new format was recently implemented for the live feed feature to reach out to other students in a network.
Jesse Morgan, marketing director for CampusLive, said that Facebook has become overwhelming.
“I’d like to have my own network where it’s just college kids and you can have a conversation without worrying about what your grandma or your aunt is seeing,” Morgan said.
Students can reach out to others by posting information regarding upcoming student organization meetings — or even sell off a used textbook.
Another popular CampusLive feature is the Food Finder.
Philosophy student Vicky Cantu is a regular user of the site and particularly this feature.
“I love all the quick links to UH services and the list of open restaurants around campus,” Cantu said. “I just wish the restaurant list was a little more accurate, but it’s a great start.”
CampusLive is free to UH students. However, a Facebook account is required to log on to the site to access all its features.
I remember when Facebook was ONLY college students and you HAD to have a university email to create an account.
I was 16 and not in college, but my friend was and she had an account. Her dad was a prof. at a university, so I ~sorta~ used his email.
Needless to say, I quit facebook in '08, when everyone started getting an account.