Mixing It Up: How CollegeMix Plans to Change The Way Students Connect
Go on your Facebook feed right now and you’ll see a bunch of it.
It’s noise – content you don’t want.
When you’re a 20-something student, that noise increases by 1,000, and staying in the loop with the people and events you want from your campus is increasingly difficult.
CollegeMix is looking to change that.
As New Brunswick graduate students themselves, cofounders Ashkan Radmand, Arash Mansouri and Matthew Code noticed there was a lack of targeted digital communication for students.
“The student community is a good example of a group of people in the same location and with a lot of common experiences. Like other people, students want to have local communication, they want to know the things that are happening around them and share experiences and information,” Radmand says.
“Currently, students rely on the existing social networks for communicating with their friends. However, we felt there is a lack of a social media app specifically tailored for student conversation, and that’s where the idea of CollegeMix came from.”
CollegeMix is geared towards university students (only students can sign-up) who want local communication and to engage with other students. It allows them to meet thousands of their peers, interact freely, offer support, and chat about pretty much anything – whether it be movies, studies, exams, elections and everything in between. Students can post in five different categories: Just Sayin, Spotted, Overheard, Ask, and Meetup.
“They can simply filter out the categories they are not interested in,” Radmand says. “They have the option to post or comment anonymously or use their names. Also instead of the traditional like/dislike option, there are interesting voting options for each type of post.”
For example “Feel ya!” and “HAHA” are options for Just Sayin posts, “Good Ask” is one for Ask posts, and “I’m Going” for Meetup posts. Students also have the option to see posts from other universities. This feature connects students from all universities together.
CollegeMix was launched in September 2015 at the University of New Brunswick as a pilot with around 500 users. They’ve now expanded to five other schools in Atlantic Canada and are currently promoting the app in some of Toronto’s universities. Right now, the app has over 5,000 users in 10 campuses.
They’re just getting started.
“There is a massive potential to expand. The next objective is targeting all big universities and colleges in Canada, with over 1 million students by the end of 2016,” Radmand says. “We’ll penetrate the US market with over 22 Million students in 2017. “
This all sounds exciting, but you can’t launch a social app and not acknowledge the obvious problems that will arise.
YikYak is an app that is probably CollegeMix’s biggest competitor. YikYak has a strong base in campuses across North America, and it’s been under fire with detractors calling it a platform that acts as a free-for-all for inappropriate and hateful content.
Radmand says they’re well aware of these risks and have worked to put measures in place where YikYak is currently lacking.
“We have a reporting system that allows our users to report a post if they think it is inappropriate. When more than two users report a post, it will be automatically removed from the network until our in-house team of moderators check the content,” he says.
The inappropriate poster will get a warning. When someone receives three warnings, they will get banned from the platform.
“This way we let our users help us keep the network clean and safe. Furthermore, unlike YikYak, we know the real identity of our users as they sign up with a valid student email address. By agreeing to our terms and conditions, our users will know that they can be tracked if they abuse the anonymity feature.”
Radmand says these measures also contribute to the app’s overall feel of a positive community.
“If you have a look at CollegeMix, you will understand that it is a supportive network and community, in which students help each other out. We have tried to keep the atmosphere positive since the beginning so that when new users onboard the app, they follow the current.”
Ultimately, CollegeMix aims to be a digital space where students can find support from their peers on anything, whether it be stress, school work, or just finding something to do to decompress on a Saturday night. Radmand says having that network can make all the difference.
“My experience has shown me that many of these problems and experiences are common among students and if you know that you’re not the only one, you’ll be stronger and more confident,” he says. “So if you have easy access to the student community, they’ll support you and share their experiences with you.”