Shannon Neu
   A&E Editor

Speakiesy, a campus-specific app that combines features similar to social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram, was launched at UNCG on Sept. 5, 2015.

Speakiesy intends to provide a safe space for students to make the most out of their college experiences. Students who have active university-specific .edu email addresses are able to download Speakiesy, as long as it is available at their school.  It is available for both iOS and Android.

Cameron Stewart, Speakiesy’s UNCG Campus Ambassador, describes the app as the ultimate “get to know your campus hub.”

“The largest problem for first year students at a university is either, ‘I don’t know where the best places on campus are’ or ‘What is going on around me?’ Speakiesy seamlessly answers both of these questions,” Stewart continued.

Speakiesy users create an account through their school email addresses and are then able to post photos, videos and text statuses that can only be seen by other users from their university.

Users engage within their own college community and do not have to worry about interference or unwanted interactions from individuals outside of the school. Therefore, users don’t have to worry about their family members, bosses or old high school friends seeing what they post. Everything that users post automatically gets deleted after 90 days.

“It is very similar to Instagram and Twitter in terms of being able to post text, picture and video,” Stewart explained.

Speakiesy also allows users to curate their own experiences with the app by following specific topics that they are interested in, such as Greek life, campus events, campus stories and campus dining.

While this app has been praised by reviewers for being convenient for students involved with Greek life, it is also useful for students who are not involved in a fraternity or sorority.

“This app can help students outside of Greek life due to the fact that you can see what other students are doing and meet-up with friends at sporting events,” Stewart said. “[Students also] easily have a place to get answers to on-campus questions, [such as] ‘Where do I go to get the best sushi?’ [and] ‘Can you get Microsoft Word for Free on campus?’ that are so hard to find the answers for if you don’t know the right people.”

Some of the first schools that had access to Speakiesy included Purdue University, Indiana University, Boston University, University of Florida, UC- Santa Barbara, Ohio State University, UNC-Chapel Hill and University of Pennsylvania. Speakiesy has been increasing its number of universities significantly during the 2015 fall semester, and is now available at more than 100 schools, including UNCG.

“Speakiesy is significant to the UNCG Community because it allows every student to easily connect with each other in a simple-to-use web space that is available to every student with an uncg.edu email address,” he mentioned.

As the UNCG Campus Ambassador for Speakiesy, Stewart works to inform his peers about Speakiesy and encourages them to give the app a try.

“Being a Campus Founder for Speakiesy on The University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s campus has really opened up a lot of opportunities not only personally but professionally as well,” Stewart said. “Having the ability to grow your network is the most popular skill in today’s job market. Speakiesy allows you to connect with current students that you may not [have] had the opportunity to interact with otherwise.”

“The experience of being an ambassador has been very rewarding,” Stewart continued. “Everything from being able to see the app grow on our campus to seeing the amount of users that it naturally attracts is such a great experience.”

“My favorite aspects of Speakiesy are the ways that it brings your campus closer,” Stewart revealed. “The ability to voice your opinion of ongoing concerns on campus, sporting events [and] student engagement opportunities is endless.”

Speakiesy was created by MOKO Social Media Limited, a multimedia company that also launched platforms and apps that target people with common interests, including students, political supporters, athletes and millennial women. They include REC*IT, Blue Nation Review, RunHaven and Tagroom.

The company was inspired to create Speakiesy by feedback they received regarding their sports app, REC*IT. They discovered that many college students seek a safe, private platform to discuss campus activities and news in and around their school.

“Speakiesy is the void that every student has been looking for,” Stewart said. “We’ve all been looking for an answer on how to bring up the attendance to our sporting events, student organization interest meetings, and events on campus.  Being able to connect everyone in one simple place has never been easier.  Student events, campus life, and student-to-student communication is now in a simple-to-use, mobile-based app.”

Once more UNCG students log on to Speakiesy, the easier it will be for them to share their college experiences with other students and never miss a moment on campus.