New social networking site debuts

A new social networking site wants to make it easier for college students – and only college students – to connect with each other. \nCollege.com, which started last month, will focus exclusively on the college market, said Sam Marks, a project manager for the site. The site includes features such as flashcards, professor ratings, live chats and a section devoted to greek organizations. It will make its way to IU, Marks said, but students said they’re in no rush to join.\n“A lot of what the site is, is kind of a consolidation of what’s popular amongst college students,” Marks said. “We’re trying to bring it all to our network.”\nOther sites popular with students, such as Facebook.com, are open to everyone. Marks does not expect students to leave Facebook for College.com, but he said his site will help students develop a stronger bond with their schools. \nAnd it’s already catching on. \nFlorida State University won a contest for being the first university to reach 1,000 members. College.com threw a party for the university, which attracted more than 1,600 students. Marks said the Web site will continue to hold events, and he hopes to be at IU soon. \n“We feel like Indiana, location-wise, is going to be a great school for us and we definitely want to push it hard,” he said. “If things turn out well, we’ll be up there within a month, putting something on for sure.”\nMarks said the college-oriented features will be the site’s biggest attraction. The “academic” tab on College.com, for instance, allows users to upload their courses, rate and comment on professors and create flashcards. In the future, he said the site will incorporate live chats, forums and a place for students to share their notes. \nBut some IU students expressed concerns about the site.\nIU graduate student James Lerg said he’s not sure if the academic features will truly \nattract students. \nHe said most of the features on College.com, such as rating professors, are available on other Web sites. Plus, he said many students use social networking sites to get away from class work, rather than concentrate on it.\n“I know a lot of people who absolutely love Facebook because it’s not about work or college or anything like that,” Lerg said. “But I can also see why it’s a negative because I think a lot of them are just trying to get completely away from the work they have to do and just play around with their friends online.” \nHowever, Marks said students will benefit from the academic features on the site. He said students can use the live chat feature, for example, to do group projects instead of meeting \nin person. \nFreshman Ian Morrall said he liked the idea of being able to use live chat. He said he thought the inclusion of an instant messaging program would be beneficial as well. \nWhile students can interact with each other on the Web site, Marks said professors will not be able to see what students do. However, professors will be able to submit flashcards and notes to their students. \n“Students are going to be able to interact with everyone as they wish,” Marks said. “Professors aren’t going to be able to do anything like that. They’re not going to see any pictures. All they’re going to see is a list of names.” \nIn addition to the “academics” tab, College.com also features a “greeks” tab. It allows fraternities and sororities to build group chapters and use a chapter-based messaging system. Marks said greek organizations can submit news and create announcements for members and the entire greek community. College.com allows officers in fraternities and sororities to coordinate activities like recruitment and \nphilanthropic events.\n“It’s gonna help organize chapters individually, as well as greek life at that school,” Marks said. “Eventually, we’re going to have tie-ins to nationals and the greek life office.”\nMorrall said he can see college students using most of these features. However, he is still not sure if he would leave Facebook or create an account at College.com. He said he personally likes the ability to interact with his friends on Facebook who do not go to college. \nLerg, for his part, said College.com will have to separate itself from the competition – a formidable challenge – to be successful. \n“I think the niche is already filled with other Web sites,” Lerg said.