Today’s college students are suffering from an epidemic of loneliness. They should be hanging out with their friends at the student union or studying together in a coffee shop. Instead, they report high levels of stress and isolation.
A revolutionary new app changes all that. Crossed is a social networking platform that turns college campuses nationwide into hotbeds of friendship and connection. That’s why it is rapidly becoming the best app for making friends.
The importance of friendship in college
Loneliness is all too common on college campuses. According to an American College Health Association survey, more than 62 percent of college students described themselves as “very lonely” in the previous year. Gallup found that 39 percent of college students report having been lonely the previous day.
Research has also linked college students’ loneliness to negative mental health. One study found that lonely students report “severe psychological distress” at four times the rate of their peers, prompting U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to call collegiate loneliness an “epidemic.”
Meanwhile, studies have also demonstrated the positive impact that friendships have on college students. Friends give each other support, which can reduce stress and other difficult emotions. As a result, these students benefit from increased focus. One study even shows college students with friends have higher grade point averages.
The good news is that more and more college students now have Crossed, a groundbreaking tool that helps them make new friends at school.
How Crossed makes a difference
Many college students are too shy to approach other people and introduce themselves. With a bit of help from someone else doing the introductions, however, they can quickly come out of their shells and start making meaningful connections that last a lifetime.
Crossed plays the role of an introducer — its name says it all. Crossed allows you to meet those whose path may have just crossed yours.
All the student needs to do is create a profile and go about their usual day. The platform will pay attention to the places they visit — for example, the coffee shop first, followed by a course in the Science building, and then before lunch at the cafeteria. If other users cross that person’s path and visit the same places, the app will notify both users of the potential connection.
“Maybe they both went swimming in the campus pool that morning, or they both did some cardio in the fitness center,” says Manny Manzel, co-founder and CEO of Crossed. “Maybe they both live in the same residence hall.”
“These are real people in the real world who have similar interests and belong to the same community as you — not catfish pretending to be someone else or someone who wouldn’t be willing to meet up in real life,” says Conor Crighton, Crossed co-founder and COO.
Crossed also offers a Safety Mode for users, which prohibits other users from seeing your profile on their feed until you are both at a safe distance. Even college staff are also finding numerous ways to leverage the app.
“Orientation organizers are using it to help new students integrate into the community quickly,” Manzel says. “Professors introduce it to the students in their classes so they can find study partners.”
In this way, Crossed is the ultimate app for college students to make friends. But that’s not all Crossed can do.
Crossed for dating and professional networking
Friendship is only one of Crossed’s three modes. It also offers completely separate interfaces for people interested in dating or building their professional network. Members choose which modes to participate in, or even all three.
“Conor and I actually got the idea for Crossed because we were sick and tired of traditional dating apps,” Manzel says. “It felt like they were set up to gamify our attention, not actually help us meet people we had things in common with.”
“The whole idea of Crossed is to bridge the gap between the online and offline worlds,” Crighton adds. “It’s designed to improve your real life through the skillful use of advanced technology.”
Crossed also does away with the necessity of swiping through people’s profiles. “All that swiping isn’t just shallow; it also leaves people feeling drained and demoralized,” Manzel says. “That’s why we made sure our app worked differently.”
All three of Crossed’s modes — Friendship, Dating, and Business — operate independently from one another. Members can also view the modes that others participate in, which helps ensure that people form the kinds of connections they seek with minimal misunderstanding.
College is just the beginning
Crossed is college students’ go-to app for friendship, dating, and professional networking. No wonder students, campus clubs and organizations, dormitory staff, wellness centers, athletic teams, and faculty are rushing to incorporate this valuable tool into campus life. But college campuses are just the beginning.
With the assistance of this cutting-edge tool, people of all kinds can connect with those around them. Join the Crossed community today!