FEATURE
FAU students Brandon Forschino and Patrick Daleen are looking to revolutionize how people get information about college in the form of a new social network.
College Twist is a unique “twist” on your average interconnection website. It lets its users get the full college experience from the comfort of a computer chair. The site, set to launch on Aug. 1, is starting off small with FAU as the site’s only featured campus.
“The goal is to have College Twist be an instant-gratification, photo-driven site, with discussion boards being a big part of the website as well,” said Daleen.
It all started during Forschino and Daleen’s freshman year at FAU. Brandon, an architecture major, came to Patrick, a business major, and shared an idea. Forschino suggested a way to make a website that featured pictures of actual dorms, Greek Life and sporting events on campus — taken by actual students.
“I noticed the difference of what college was really like versus what I thought it would be like in high school,” said Forschino, a 20-year-old junior.
This led to heavily pushing the idea of displaying a very detailed and realistic college experience to the user.
“You really don’t get to see college for what it is, even with a campus tour,” Brandon noted, based on personal experience. “I didn’t know what to bring to college, or what goes on around campus — restaurants, good deals or local scenes.”
The site will attempt to change all of that. Forschino and Daleen went around to local businesses and made connections that will benefit users in the way of promotions and deals in the area around campus. Other universities will be run by campus representatives, who will have to put in a lot of work researching the clubs, Greek Life and sports of their respective schools.
A heavily customizable dashboard lets the user’s news feeds and photos create a catered stream of information to their screen. This, combined with an event calendar, where events that the user is interested in show up, should let students keep in touch with their schools more easily than before.
“We’re not trying to replace Facebook, we’re using Facebook integration,” said Daleen. “Why try to be different when you can coexist?”
According to Forschino and Daleen, they want this site to grow to every university in the U.S. Their goal is to be a network for college students and also be a tool for high school students and a place for alumni to check back on their former schools.
Expect a lot of photographs and a little drama on the discussion boards. Rivalries will be sure to produce heated arguments, and inquiries about the schools will be met with students’ honest opinions.
“It’s fair game — people can say what they want to say,” said Forschino. “It’s better to see pictures and hear the real words instead of something glorified on a college site.”
