Facebook is going back to Campus to get college students excited about social media again

Facebook: Social networking giant Facebook has decided to stay in touch with its original version by launching a product called Campus. Campus is a section of the main Facebook app that has been specifically designed for students in colleges. The product has been made to serve as a space where college students would be able to interact only with their fellow students, would have access to a News Feed that provides news of the campus only, and also be able to join events, groups, as well as Campus Chats – the group chat rooms. The students would also be accessible to a ‘campus directory’, through which they would be able to find as well as add to their friend list other students.

To be able to have access to Campus, the students would need to provide valid college email addresses (.edu email IDs), along with the year of their graduation. Once the students access the Campus, they would need to create a new profile meant exclusively for the product, but their cover image and profile photo would remain the same as the main app.

Students would be encouraged to add more information about themselves, since that would make it easier for them to find students who would have something in common with them. The students would have the option to add or remove details like major, minor, dorm, classes, and hometown. However, with this, Facebook would also get more information about the college students, the subjects they are studying and the people they are talking to, giving the giant more basis for better targeted ads.

Campus Product Manager Charmaine Hung said that the reason Facebook decided on having a separate profile for campus was because students might not choose to share very specific details about their college life on their public profile.

Initially, the product would be launched on a pilot basis in collaboration with 30 US universities, like University of Louisville, Virginia Tech, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern and Vassar. The list of universities does not include Harvard University for now. Currently, Campus would not allow students of nearby colleges or from different universities to interact, and the visibility of profiles and interaction would only be possible among students who attend the same school.

While the profile made on Campus is walled off from the main Facebook, a person blocked by a student on main Facebook would remain blocked even in the Campus version, and vice versa. Moreover, a person who violated the community standards of Facebook outside Campus, would not be allowed to join Campus either. Apart from that, while alumni could continue to remain on Campus after they have graduated, Facebook would still send a notification suggesting they leave the profile since it might not be that relevant to them.