Students have yet another social media platform they can use to share every aspect of their lives while also navigating the lives of their peers. Snapchat’s college-centric “Our Campus Story” feature arrived to Chico State just weeks ago and it has already made its mark on the campus.
The live story displays a wide range of content that has proven to be great publicity for students from all walks of life.
Miles Cook, senior marketing major and member of Phi Kappa Tau, said that many of his brothers have submitted snaps of their letters and events and have been featured on the story a number of times.
“At first, people did it for fun and then realized the kind of audience they can reach,” he said. “It was kind of an afterthought but once we realized what it could be used for, we started using it more.”
Melanie Caldwell, senior marketing and international economics major, said she plans to bake cookies for her Delta Sigma Pi brothers that are able to get the professional business fraternity on the story.
“750 people saw my friend’s (snap featured on the story) and that wasn’t even when it was expired,” she said. “That’s incredible marketing and advertising, and it’s free.”
“Our Campus Story” has also been helpful for students who wish to advertise their individual quirks and talents, such as Nick McCollum, junior theater major, who has made five appearances on the story for his freestyle rapping.
“People post random stuff but for me, I feel like I want to make something big with it,” he said. “Every time I film myself it’s going to be something cool.”
According to a 2014 study done by Sumpto, 77 percent of college students use Snapchat daily, meaning more than three-fourths of the student body at Chico State are likely to watch the story. With just over 17,000 students, that’s a lot of of student eyeballs awaiting each snap.
In fact, student viewers across campus are giving highly positive feedback on the live story.
“Since I live in UV, it’s fun to see what’s going on around campus and downtown and just what goes on around Chico in general,” said Brittany Le, first-year political science major.
The popularity of the feature heightens competition out of the thousands of snaps sent in each day hoping to make the cut. Vu Nguyen, executive VP of Associated Students, said AS also faces this difficulty, so they try to stand out with creativity.
“You have to think outside the box,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen danced his way onto the story during the Hungry Wildcats Pantry food drive in a soup can costume.
“Our Campus Story” is proving to be more than just a place for students to post their daily shenanigans— it is also proving to be a way to market and promote clubs, organizations and people.
Cheyanne Burens can be reached at [email protected] or @cheybrizzle on Twitter.
