Following on from TikTok adding a new “Campus Verification” option to help college students connect in the app, Instagram is now adding the same thing, providing a means for students to showcase their college or university via their IG presence.
As you can see in this example, Instagram’s partnering with student verification platform UNiDAYS in order to enable students to enter their college or university email address, which will then confirm their student status (note: TikTok is also using the same process).
And if it all checks out, then students will be able to display their college or uni class on their IG profile, which, when tapped by other approved students, will also show expanded student listings from the same school and year among those who’ve registered in the app.
That’ll provide another means to connect with alumni, and make connections, as students head into new courses and schools. Which could ease the transition, though Meta has had issues in the past with similar offerings.
Back in 2020, Meta launched a similar offering called “Facebook Campus” which was focused on enabling connection based on university campus and course.
Meta shut the program down a couple of years later, due to problems in expanding its availability, and concerns around non-students gaining access to the tool. Which has also been a problem in other college-focused apps, though clearly both Instagram and TikTok are confident that UNiDAYS will now facilitate a more effective process for double-checking student IDs, and ensuring non-students, with spoofed addresses, are kept out.
The truth will bear out in practice, as more students and institutions sign-up to the initiative, and seek to connect with others in the app.
But in theory at least, it should be a valuable connective option, that will help students connect around similar interests.
And maybe, it will also provide new opportunities for brands looking to showcase their products to these specific college audiences.
Meta says that the option is being launched with colleges and universities in the U.S. from this week.
