The college social network you didn’t use is being shut down by Facebook.

0
167

Facebook groups will be retired in favor of Facebook.

Did Facebook’s Campus social network, which is aimed at college students, leave you cold? You’re not the only one who feels this way. According to TechCrunch and consultant Matt Navarra, Facebook’s Campus pilot project will be shut down on March 10th. Facebook claimed in a message to users that it had discovered that college groups were the “ideal option” to support students.

After the deadline, Facebook will remove Campus profiles, posts, and other material. However, you can download any data you have before then, and Facebook will propose comparable school groups to help you transfer.

The Campus pilot launched in September 2020 as a partial throwback to the original student-focused Facebook. You needed a .edu address to sign up — in theory, this let the college crowd mingle without relatives and other outsiders poking in. It was only available from the “More” section of Facebook, though, and didn’t get its own app. You might not have known Campus existed, in other words, and it wasn’t clear this was a truly separate space.

The closure comes just days after Instagram said it would shut down its standalone IGTV app in mid-March, and reflects a long history of Meta brands pulling apps and services that don’t pan out. Meta still appears content to take risks on products, and it won’t hesitate to drop those products if they fail.