• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, August 6, 2013

Facebook emerged from the primordial, hormonal ooze that is the college social scene, so it’s not surprising that institutions of higher education are producing new species of social networks, including a bunch of enterprise networks dedicated to specific schools.  

One of the newest school-centric social networks comes from the University of Texas, which unveiled a social platform, called HornsLink, that’s open to students with University of Texas identification numbers. UT students can use HornsLink to connect with other students and organizations, get customized recommendations for events and organizations based on their profile interests, and receive regular updates about university affairs.

There’s also a professional aspect in the form of online resumes which students can update with their courses and activities. Among other things, the university is hoping that HornsLink will allow students who might be having academic or financial trouble make connections that help them stay in school and graduate.

According to Information Week, other schools launching enterprise social networks include the Milwaukee School of Engineer, which unveiled MSOE Bridge, a platform for current students, alumni, prospectives, and hopefuls that connects to Facebook for easy log-in. By making MSOE Bridge open to prospective, MSOE hopes to increase the number of applicants who actually enroll in the school, by providing a way to stay in touch that also engages them with other potential and current students (the school found that response rates to email were lagging, and phone contact was intermittent).

IW noted that Northwestern University is also creating a new enterprise social network using Jive, while Northwestern’s School of Education has already introduced a live community using Jive’s cloud-based platform.