Eric Leebow, founder of social networking site FreezeCrowd, recognized the need for an online community network focused on the college audience, where everyone has something in common, even before they even get to know each other. Since its launch in 2011, the platform  has remained exclusive for college students, graduate scholars, and alumni to help them stay connected in a forum all their own way through photos. The platform is currently only open for those with an educational email address to get in touch with people from their institute or reach out to those at other colleges and universities worldwide who share their interests, either academically, socially, or both. It serves as a great resource for members to focus on their community rather than mass market social media. According to Leebow, currently students and alumni at more than 1,000 colleges and universities worldwide have joined the network. This is a great way to stay in touch with those who graduate, move far away, or even during holiday and school breaks when many students return home.

Members Only

One issue Leebow strived to avoid when starting FreezeCrowd was cyberbullying. To start, not everyone can join FreezeCrowd, because they have  verified they are affiliated with a higher learning institute. By signing up with a school email, it keeps the platform community connected. Once signed up, users receive an email to activate their account, and then they are all set to update their profile interests. They can also post photos from shared social gatherings through  its "freeze" tagging technology, where members are tagged and notified that they are in the photo. Then, members can interact through speech bubbles and ice breakers within the photo image to break the ice with new connections.

Safety First

Unlike other social media platforms, Leebow wanted to ensure FreezeCrowd didn't make the same mistakes some of its predecessors did. Most importantly, FreezeCrowd prevents cyberbullying by ensuring all members have an official school email and registers with their real name. Also, because interaction only takes place in the photos and can only include those in the photos, people are not anonymous. The site also boasts the absence of irrelevant ads, fake news, and constant notifications, which makes it a more humane platform. Realizing that it is sometimes difficult to make friends when first starting out in college, FreezeCrowd is the perfect platform by making it easier to make and keep real-life connections with college friends. 

To find more about FreezeCrowd, visit www.freezecrowd.com and join to break the ice!