The Next Facebook? College-Only Social Networking Site Set to Debut
Could the next Facebook be on the horizon?
JusCollege.com, a free social networking site and full-service concierge service just for college students, is launching this month at the University of Colorado, Loyola Marymount University, USC, the University of Arizona and San Diego State University.
JusCollege.com mirrors the original version of Facebook. Initially, Facebook was available only to college students—first at Harvard University and then at other schools. Now, Facebook registration is open to anyone.
The social networking giant, founded in 2004, ranks as the most visited website in the United States; it has more than 500 million registered users around the world.
Twenty-eight percent of Facebook users are in college, according to DigitalTrends.com.
As a social networking site, JusCollege.com lets registered students communicate with friends through tools like messaging and photo sharing. Users of the site can connect only with other students who’ve signed up.
Aside from serving a Facebook-like function, JusCollege.com offers concierge services. The site bills itself as a resource for discounted products and services, including entertainment, dining and travel. JusCollege.com says the typical college student spends more than $600 a month on goods and services.
“The great thing about our site is we’re not reliant on social networking aspects,” founder and CEO Andrew Citores told the Boulder Daily Camera. “Whether it’s academics, organizational services, buying food, apparel, textbooks or organizing events, JusCollege is a one-stop shop for everything college.”
Citores, a Southern California entrepreneur and an alumnus of Loyola Marymount, said JusCollege.com is open only to college students with e-mail addresses ending in .edu. That way, Citores said, “parents, teachers and future employers can’t see what students are posting and sharing with each other.”
On his Facebook page, Citores said the people who’ve inspired him include Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple head honcho Steve Jobs and President Ronald Reagan.
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