Instagram is in the testing stages of a college community feature, which will allow students to connect with others currently enrolled at their school. According to CNBC, users are able to join communities by manually selecting their graduation year and university. This information is then incorporated as part of the user’s profile. Users will be able to see others’ profiles and stories that are part of the community, as well as have the ability to direct message others.
However, the verification process has its flaws. No .edu address is necessary to confirm student status, and someone reported to CNBC that they successfully joined their alma mater’s community. Verification is done by examining students’ connections and the information shared about the school. Despite this procedure, Instagram defends that the feature is in its infancy stage, and there are currently measures to report those who misuse it.
Parent company Facebook is losing popularity in the college-aged generation, so this is an attempt to reach the specific population of students. With this feature, users are encouraged to connect with others in real life, which is a similar intention of Facebook. Comparatively, other universities have Facebook groups for incoming classes, as well as specific apps to meet other members of the student body before arriving on campus, such as SchoolsApp. This feature can also be viewed as a potential response to rival app Snapchat. Users are migrating away from Facebook and toward Snapchat, which includes features such as subscriptions and news stories on the user’s feed, and universities regularly use these to reach students on campus.
There is no word as to when College Communities will become official, though the goal of encouraging students to connect with each other is an attainable one.