For those who know me, you know I’m typically a very optimistic (if sometimes overly critical) person. However, after you read this, I would highly suggest going to get ice cream or some lactose-free equivalent for yourself; it might be kind of a downer.
Anyone who is currently breathing on campus has surely seen one of the patent minimalistic black-and-white posters advertising Splash, a new app launching at Carnegie Mellon. The app is designed to help students meet people on campus, and even has features that suggest activities for you to do with your new friends. Splash’s marketing does not specify whether the app itself was developed by a student here, or if it’s related to a class project. My aim is not to critique the app itself — I think it’s great to have new and fresh ways to meet people. Campus can be really isolating, and it can be intimidating to make the first friend move.
My issue with Splash is their marketing campaign, and the way it exploits the feelings I just described in order to obtain users. I first learned about Splash after one of their ambassadors left small squares of black paper reading “Do you believe you can know a NEW friend on campus in 5 Seconds?” in front of every resident’s door on every floor of E-Tower. This is not only annoying as anything and intrusive, but also a violation of residential building poster policy. Call me a nerd, but the policy exists to protect residents from false or predatory advertising, and it bugs me a lot when people violate it.
The messaging on these flyers was rather tame in comparison to what can be found around campus (and I mean all around campus) on larger posters. “Ace your finals without killing your social life,” reads one. “Would you cancel your Tinder subscription for 20 Guaranteed offline meetups/mo?” asks another. First of all, the messaging is confusing — is this app for dating or friends? One poster reads “Are you tired of Endless Swiping and Chatting Bullshit and not getting a single meetup?” while another asks, “Having a Solidified College Friend Circle and wanting to get more friends at no cost?” I can imagine users having a very difficult and confusing experience if they go to the app looking to meet new friends and are instead approached by people who want to go on dates or hook up. The way that this is not clarified in a single advertisement or on their Instagram page indicates to me that the marketers don’t really care how people use their app — they just want users. But the difference between what people go into the app expecting and what it is actually like has the potential to make them feel even more lonely or isolated.
This brings me to my second point. Much of the advertising leverages the idea that students are already lonely and isolated and are desperately seeking connection. On one hand, I think that type of rhetoric appeals to a generalization of Carnegie Mellon as a place with antisocial, work-focused students who don’t talk to each other or have fun. Propagating this idea does nothing for anyone. Splash even makes a comparison of Carnegie Mellon students to all universities in general to imply this sentiment; “79% of college graduates found their closest friend in college. Why missing any chances?” reads an entire row on their Instagram page. I ask in return: Why are we making people feel bad for not conforming to some ideal of becoming best friends with a ton of people during college?
I’ll acknowledge that some of what Splash appeals to is definitely true. It is important for people to feel a sense of belonging and connection in their college community. And certainly, there are many people at Carnegie Mellon (and other colleges) who do not feel that sense of belonging. Do not exploit those people and their very real experiences to achieve some goal of user statistics. There are enough companies in the world that capitalize on people’s loneliness, anxieties, and even more. As a new generation of students, we have the chance to change the face of public interaction with technology in a positive way. If you want to facilitate real community-building on campus, I think an app like Splash is a great way to do that. But in advertising that app, users should be invited and welcomed and made to feel valued for who they are, not for who society tells them they should be.
Leave a Reply