WLUSU launches social media platforms

The Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union (WLUSU) has introduced a new social network exclusive to the Wilfrid Laurier University staff and student body via their recently revamped website.

The Laurier Student Network will allow students to share photos, statuses, join groups, create events and start discussions and polls simply by signing up using their Laurier e-mail account.

According to WLUSU marketing communications manager Kat Lourenco, the program will provide “an environment for [students] to interact with each other and get to know other Laurier students.”

The program is currently it its early stages, with Lourenco having implemented what she calls a ‘soft launch’ to work out initial kinks. Once in full effect, the program will allow students to receive points for every action they take on the site. These points will be redeemable for rewards such as tickets to events or various discounts.

The intention of the network is to create a two-way dialogue between the student body and the students’ union.

“The idea is that we want to be actively in the spot that students are going to be, and frankly that is online,” said Nick Gibson, president and CEO of WLUSU.

Gibson mentioned that the new WLUSU website will be easier for students to navigate and for the union to manage behind the scenes. He expects that the path taken with the site will save the students’ union money in the long run as well.

“It wasn’t really serving students. Now it has the opportunity to be a lot of things. It is a source of information first and foremost, but it has options to be a lot more than that,” said Lourenco.

The main launch of the Laurier student network will occur during the first week of classes, roughly at the same time as the new “Fix My Laurier” (FML) texting service headed by the internal affairs team.

The purpose of FML is for students to have an accessible method of conveying their concerns and complaints about WLU in general.

The internal affairs team will receive the messages and categorize them into themes. Based on feasibility and popularity, these themes will be reviewed by the student body to determine students’ top priorities and concerns.

From this, roughly five large priorities will be added to the WLUSU agenda for the year. Gibson explained that because texting is anonymous unlike e-mail, a texting service will create a comfortable environment for students to share their concerns.