Facebook's 'Campus' test hints at a return to its college roots

Facebook is apparently hoping to go back to its roots as a service that connects college students with each other. App researcher Jane Manchun Wong has unearthed an experimental feature called “Campus,” which can be exclusively accessed by college students, when she took apart the social network’s application. You’ll need a .edu email address to access Campus, and once you’re in, you can fill out a profile with your graduation year, major, minor and dorm if you want to find your friends on it.

As you probably know, the social network started as a platform to connect Harvard students before expanding to welcome students from other universities and educational institutions. Today, Facebook has 3 billion monthly active users around the world. It’s no longer the same service Mark Zuckerberg and his fellow Harvard students built years ago, but Campus feels like a throwback to those days.

In Wong’s screenshot, you’ll see that Campus spaces will have their own Groups, Events and other features. That way, they can only be accessed by users who have the .edu credentials needed to enter the space. Since this is just an experimental feature, though, there are no guarantees that it’ll ever be available to the public.

Facebook is working on “Campus”, a new space exclusive for college students

There will be Groups, Events, etc for “Campus” spaces pic.twitter.com/cfEwubLxTt

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) April 9, 2020