Facebook got its start at Harvard before it spread to the world, and the founders of a new social media website, Spotflag, hope that their site will be equally successful with its AU debut.
Spotflag is a online bulletin board used to inform students about local events. Users can find out about local events and “flag” specific events.
When a company or organization “flags” an event, they “post a flag” that appears on a user’s homepage if a user would be interested in the event, according to the website.
Students who live on campus will see events that AU flags on their homepage. The homepage is similar to a Facebook news feed or a Twitter homepage.
“Our idea will succeed because it makes sense,” Spotflag CEO and Founder Sambou Makalou said. “Instead of [a student] having to look at multiple calendars, like Today@AU, Facebook and Twitter, everything is available in one place.”
Anyone or any company can flag an event. Local businesses can flag specific events in order to advertise and spread news about upcoming activities, according to the Spotflag website.
The company first presented their website at AU during a test-run this spring.
Many students used the site to participate in “human vs. zombie” games on campus. The members used Spotflag’s location feature to hunt down competitors and tag them.
“It was the AU community that helped us shift to the bulletin board users see now,” Makalou said.
Spotflag redesigned
The company returned this month with a new layout and a set of features designed to benefit the user.
Nicole Pulley, a senior in Kogod School of Business and Spotflag’s AU ambassador, said the original layout was not aesthetically pleasing.
“My favorite aspect has been watching [the website] evolve from its original layout to what users see now,” she said. “The website allows users to view all the surrounding events in one place so they never miss out.”
The new clutter-free layout allows users to focus on the website’s important features, which now include a map view, specific icons and more event types, Pulley said.
Makalou reached out to multiple universities and campuses last spring, including AU, to launch new Spotflag sites. Nate Bronstein answered quickly, inviting Makalou and his company to do a trial run at AU.
Makalou said he chose to launch Spotflag at AU because of the University’s location and its community service-oriented reputation.
Although freshman make up the majority of new members on Spotflag, they aren’t the only group of students eager to join the website.
On Sept. 3, Makalou gathered with student ambassadors and representatives on the Quad to encourage students to join the new website.
The website will be launching at 11 other universities nationwide, and already launched at Howard University and University of California Berkeley.
New users can choose to sync their account with Facebook, Twitter or with an email address at www.spotflag.com.
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