Islands is going for Snapchat-like growth on college campuses
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Greg Isenberg has seen how other apps grow.
That’s why he’s at the University of Alabama with his new app, Islands. It’s already the red-hot new thing as students start world-class for the fall 2017 semester.
“Who wants to meet people the most? It’s people at college. College is the single greatest hour for self-discovery. You’re deciding if you like X or Y, ” Isenberg said via FaceTime as he strolled the Alabama campus.
Like many apps before–think Yik Yak, Tinder, and even Facebook–Islands is hoping to take advantage of the collegial nature of college student. Islands offers a simple way to establish the organizations and profiles to share photos and stir schemes.
It’s already active at University of Alabama, University of Georgia, Clemson University, Auburn University, College of Charleston, University of South Carolina, and University of Florida. More than 25 percent of Alabama’s freshmen class has requested to join since class started last week. The app is still in beta mode, meaning not everyone can download and sign up yet.
None of that is revolutionary, but maybe it doesn’t need to be.
SEE ALSO: Why Facebook had to kill its Groups app
“I don’t want to live in the world where Facebook Groups is the end all be all, ” articulated Isenberg announced. “The Snapchat generation doesn’t crave social media posts on Facebook. We want a space to connect with the person or persons around us in an interesting and in a beautiful way.”
Isenberg, 28, is quite familiar with building beautiful products. He gained attention with his first startup, a digital marketing corporation he launched at age 13. He afterward founded 5by, a video finding app he sold to StumbleUpon.
Now, the entrepreneur were concentrated in Islands. He just grew $1.85 million from several investors, including Greylock, entrepreneur Scott Belsky, and Vaizra Investments, to grow the app from a handful of college campuses to more than 75 by the end of 2018. The competition from Facebook, Microsoft’s GroupMe, and other social networks is clear, but Isenberg hopes he can succeed by making something better Snapchat-like.
Isenberg nicknames his new app “Slack for College, ” where students can easily express via one app. Groups organised by topic are called “Islands” and are shown within 5 miles of the campus.
Groups can be limited to photo-only or GIF-only.
Image: islands
Groups can be for anything from parties to pick-up basketball games.
That location-based part is similar to Yik Yak, the now-defunct messaging app that also rose to notoriety on college campuses. That’s not surprising considering the fact that Isenberg’s team includes former Yik Yak employees. He likewise recruited former employees at Twitter and 5by, who now work out of an office in San Francisco.
Unlike Yik Yak, Islands isn’t all anonymous. Yik Yak was plagued by bomb menaces and bullying due to complete anonymity in part leading to its downfall. Island users can authenticate their profiles by linking to their social media accounts.
“We promote Facebook log-in but, that being said, you could create an Island that is anonymous. People do use it anonymously, but it’s primarily with names, ” Isenberg said.
About half of the app’s current users link to their Instagram or Snapchat accounts. It’s not just about authenticity.
“A large-hearted feedback that we got is that people want more adherents on their platforms, and people are afraid to go up to their classmates and tell, ‘Hey what’s your Instagram handle, and what’s your Snapchat? ‘” Isenberg mentioned.
Users can link to their Instagram and Snapchat accounts.
Image: islands
Isenberg said he got the idea for Islands after he met a woman in Los Angeles who was diagnosed with cancer. She was part of a support group organized via an email roster. He envisaged there must be a better direction to gratify and communicate with people.
That idea eventually turned into Islands. Now, he is promoting the app on college campuses by hiring brand diplomats. That’s a growing strategy invoked by dating apps Tinder and Bumble along with Yik Yak. Facebook and Snapchat also rose to importance via students.
The team also established a dres and accessory path, designed by Skrillex’s fashion brand Owsla, in the hopes of getting more public attention for the app.
Islands sells hats, sweatshirts, and t-shirts.
Image: islands
Isenberg personally has been traveling to college campuses as he grows Islands into a must-have social network for students. He lived all over the University of Western Ontario last semester last year.
“It’s literally where McDonalds experimented McNuggets, ” Isenberg replied. “I embedded myself there, had a cluster of crazy realizations. You could go up to any university student and learn they all use Snapchat, Instagram, and GroupMe as their top three apps.”
Islands is in part a challenger to GroupMe due to the messaging focus. Yet, Isenberg said he wants it to be heralded more for breakthrough of populations and of occurrences.
“What shapes me happiest is when I connect people, either through dinner parties or just introducing people or whatever it is. Why I’m so excited about Islands is we’re able to do it on a mass scale. Like right now, “theres” people playing basketball because of us, ” Isenberg mentioned.
Read more: http :// mashable.com/ 2017/08/ 30/ islands-college-campus-messaging-app /~ ATAGEND
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Sep, 08, 2017
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