Jamaica- Caribbean students who study at home (Jamaica, Grenada, Trinidad and Barbados) and abroad have all flocked to facebook and hi5 in the glaring absence of something of their own.
While the web is littered with many Caribbean alumni sites many of which are poorly designed, hardly updated, there is a void that’s presenting a great opportunity to fill. Caribbeanstudent.com came, but has since become stagnant. Lyming.com which was on, then off, then on again and is now coming soon as the site says. The single alumni focused site worth visiting is ackee.com and it functions great as that.
There is nothing to bring Caribbean students, the alumni together online in a powerful, self sustaining and unique way. Some ideas to possibly steam from are - kickstart.com (a freshly launched yahoo company that brings together students, alumni and headhunting companies);collegetonight.com or carmun.com a site that encourages students to help each other study.
Any why is this such a great idea to act on, simple, there are many deep pocketed brands that would cut off a left arm to brand, advertise to a site that has an active user base of this prime demographic. And if I have to list the brands and their current balance sheet information, then crawl back under that rock you’ve been living under.
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The question is, do they NEED something of their own? Facebook seems to get the job done pretty well, sometimes, it just doesn’t pay to “regionalise” a concept that someone has already invested some much time, money and thought into, because chances are, you won’t be able to compete.
On the other hand, I like the idea of linking students and companies and there is definitely a need for something regional where that is concerned. I’ve seen attempts from PWC and others to provide online job and applicant matching, but they’ve all pretty much failed (in my opinion).
November 6th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
I forgot to mention … http://caribbeanjobs.com actually is the best site for job hunters and companies seeking applicants. The sad part is, it’s extra-regionally, but it seems to get a lot of hits and is always pretty active.
November 6th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Do they need one is a pretty good question…you see i agree facebook and others have made it possible for caribbean students to carve a niche of their own in that global landscape and it’s always good to be part of something bigger than ourselves. But I do believe if done right, a regional and diaspora focused site can be a lucrative niche for a smart enetrepreneur.
November 6th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
The discussion is excellent and at first I asked the same question, but then I realized that the article wasn’t advocating an “Caribbean Facebook or MySpace”, but a Caribbean social network mainly to connect students, alumni and companies - more education and contacts oriented.
One could actually leverage Facebook to create that, first creating a group on Facebook and then leading into a website, while keeping the group alive.
However I think one thing stand in the way and it is something we do not have control over.
This requires unity and the desire to connect with people from other Caribbean islands - but it would seem that “unity” doesn’t really exist in the Caribbean and the Jamaica vs. Eastern Caribbean mentality is alive and well all over.
Please tell me I am wrong
November 6th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
hi5 is going to be a hard beast to kill
“Jamaica vs. Eastern Caribbean mentality” hahahah
November 9th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
http://www.caribfriends.com is a new one that addresses this market also.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:46 pm