Colleges taking social networking to the next level

Inside Higher Education has a piece on a software company that let's each college client customize its applications within Facebook to tie students more closely to their school:

The software company Inigral, for example, is collaborating with colleges to deploy a Facebook application it calls the “lifecycle engagement platform.” The app is designed to connect students who share the same academic courses, play on the same teams, and belong to the same campus organizations — essentially creating a Facebook within Facebook, consisting of networks and news updates relating to a student’s individual experience at a college. In the case of prospective students and alumni, it would allow them to follow those miniature communities that they either wish to be involved with if they enroll, or were a part of before they graduated.

During this time of massive disinvestment in public higher education, you can't blame the schools for trying anything to get their hooks into prospective future donors.

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