TikTok told TechCrunch in an email on Thursday that it is launching a new “campus hub.” The new hub features a dedicated university group chat and personalized feed designed to help students stay connected to their campus community during summer break.
The new hub builds on the app’s Campus Check feature that launched last August, allowing users to add their college campus to their TikTok profile and browse the school’s student list to find and connect with other students on campus. The feature is available to more than 6,000 universities through TikTok’s partnership with UNiDAYS, a student verification platform that verifies student identity.
Once users confirm their student status, they will have access to a new dedicated campus hub.
Students can create and participate in group chats with up to 300 classmates. These group chats are only available to verified students from the same school. TikTok says these chats can be used to stay in touch, plan reunions, and continue conversations throughout the summer.
While these chats may be useful during the summer, TikTok may also aim to have students use the app for everyday school communication, such as class or club discussions that typically occur on other platforms such as Discord, Facebook Messenger, or Instagram.
For the new College Feed, users will see a personalized feed with a mix of college-related content and content posted by verified students. TikTok says these feeds allow students to stay connected to campus life, trends and updates wherever they are.
The new feature is reminiscent of Facebook’s early days, when the platform was built entirely around college campuses and required people to sign up with a valid “.edu” email address to connect with school friends and meet people from college.
It’s worth noting that TikTok isn’t the only social media giant making it easier for college students to connect with each other, as Meta-owned Instagram launched a feature last year that was nearly identical to TikTok’s Campus Verification feature. This feature also allows students in the United States to add their college to their profile banner and search the school’s student list.
If you purchase through links in our articles, we may receive a small commission. This does not affect our editorial independence.
