"The platform isn't just intended for making contact with your immediate friends, but with the entire university," Korenaar explains. "Students create their own student world in order to make university-wide connections. We created the platform; now it's up to the students to organize it."
With 'we' Korevaar means the UT spin-off StructWeb, which completely consists of UT students and alumni. With Student.world their first focus is on UT students; you can only register with a student account, for example. The intention is to quickly roll out the platform to include other universities. "This is a case of weeks more than months," Korevaar expects.
The user decides
How does it work exactly? "You register with a student account and after a short how-to you can get started. You'll see a list of categories, from science to news and from student life to entertainment. These categories are broken down into sub-categories, such as 'Today I Learned' and 'Inspiring People', but also categories such as student pictures and cabaret. All subjects are listed under these categories."
As a user you can add these subjects yourself. Other users take on the role of administrator; if enough users approve a subject, it becomes visible to all users of Student.world. The question is whether this will not get out of hand after a while, but Korevaar doesn't think it will. "We trust in the self-cleaning capacity of the community. Everyone can report it if something doesn't pass muster. In addition, we also employ moderators."
"For the student, by the student"
Korevaar says that for the time being, Student.world will be solely intended for students. "We want to create a community of like-minded people, to ensure that you're not flooded with baby pictures like on Facebook. Our hope is to connect people based on subjects, not just online but offline as well. This way it could create added value for you as a person as well."
The platform is currently available as a desktop version, but according to Korevaar the mobile application for the platform will be available next weekthe Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
