Qlique.com

Mix Myspace, Facebook and Internet gaming in a blender and what do you get? On a growing… Mix Myspace, Facebook and Internet gaming in a blender and what do you get? On a growing number of college campuses, you get Qlique. No, this website does not have any association with the selective, tight-knit groups known as cliques. This clever name does have some basis, though. Qlique makes it a priority to keep users very thoroughly connected.

Qlique is just beginning its launch onto the computers of college students, but it has selected the University of Pittsburgh, along with Penn State, Virginia Tech, University of South Carolina and Duke Univeristy (to name a few) to be its main targets. To put it simply, Qlique is a web-based program that allows its users to network through chat rooms, comment boards, live interactions, quizzes, interactive games and more. While Myspace is open to just about everyone and Facebook is open to students in a very wide age-range, Qlique restricts its community to only college students.

Andy Field, the brains and the CEO behind Qlique says, “We can allow people to be more of who they are, and if you do it through humor, everyone feels good. Qlique combines the best parts of our online and real-world lives.”

Joining Qlique involves 15 minutes of creating an account and launching Qlique onto one’s computer. Once the program is available, the users get a home screen all to themselves. The screen includes a wide list of “widgets,” little icons that will open up the “LANscape” (a visual display of color-coded dots that symbolize other users in one’s network), the local chat, music and even a vintage TV icon to visually interact with people in one’s personal LANscape.

Unlike Myspace and Facebook, the personal account homepage not only includes notifications but also opportunities to enter communal games and join in on the “Opinionator,” a box of streaming questions meant to shake the opinions out of people and possibly strike up controversy.

Jeremy Zerbe, a senior at Pitt and a casual member of Qlique, finds the project to be unexpectedly productive in some areas. “I am always into getting rid of Myspace,” explained Zerbe with a hint of bias. “Qlique gives you the ability to interact on the instant, there are chat rooms, but they’re not creepy.”

Members will find that the web-based prototype really is instantaneous. It does not involve the waiting period attached to posts, messages and event invites – it pairs these features with immediate communication devices.

One of Qlique’s main goals for the 2007-08 school year is to find students to actually run parts of the website’s production, in order to get the campus more involved.

These campus managers are employed for the job of recruiting student users. In order to reach masses rather than individuals, Qlique initially opened its doors to Pitt sororities and fraternities.

Jamie Rose Marsch, a junior at Pitt, was a determined employee of the project throughout most of her second semester of sophomore year. Not only did she manage to get $500 dollars prize money for her sorority by attaining the most Qlique advocates, but she also consulted with the corporation about marketing objectives. Marsch describes Qlique’s goal of having “Qlique rush,” a greek-oriented rush in joining the website, and its desire to interactively “market dating to college students.”

Marsch has an obvious respect for the people behind Qlique, but she also has an idea of the barriers that Qlique will have to overcome. She explained, “The CEO is so enthusiastic and puts infinite amounts of time and enthusiasm into the project.” Marsch believes that the website has something, but they need to establish a consistent base.

“They keep switching versions, but the market is saturated,” said Marsch.

Being that college is now such a technology-based institution, Qlique could easily fit right in with the fast-paced swing of the students. The problem will be conquering the current powers, Facebook and Myspace, but Qlique has already made a strong collaborative effort to do so.