Social network targets UK students

There was a time – around 2006 – when you couldn’t turn on your internet without being solicited by a social networking website ‘just for students’. Of course, back then Facebook was just for students too. Facebook grew, and grew, and eventually it made most other student social networks redundant. Then it opened its doors to the world and the rest was history.

Now, a non-native New Yorker called Tomo Delaney (he hails from Gloucestershire originally) has gone back to the drawing board, picked up his Sharpie and sketched out a social site that targets students. Recently featured in the Huffington Post, here Tomo explains the thinking behind justlefthome.com

Image: Tomo Delaney

“The initial idea for justlefthome.com came one day when – and I have no idea why – the url mom.com suddenly popped into my head. It was so short, so snappy. And so unavailable too. Despite it being a complete non-starter, I couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be if I had anything to do with it. It would be a virtual mom/mum, a site where kids who had recently left home could go to for advice about all sorts of things: recipes, laundry, housing, banking etc. Things which you might normally ask a parent about but were suddenly unable to because of distance or time difference.

“So I started thinking of alternative names and justlefthome.com was available. Not quite as punchy as the original idea, but still: brilliant! This was it, I was going to be rich.

“I thought that it should be hand-drawn because it seemed such an obvious, hitherto not-very-exploited approach. When your target audience is both extremely design-aware and has such a fleeting attention span, it makes sense to give them something both cool and instantly memorable. And I’m rather design-obsessed too, probably as a result of having worked in the fashion industry for the past 20 years. Skinny-dipping with supermodels in Costa Rica is as much fun as it sounds, but when you’re married with two kids and have a bit of a paunch, your presence starts to become slightly incongruous and it’s wise to start thinking of an escape route. Hence justleft…

“In 2009 I launched justlefthome as a collection of useful links grouped into families (housing, eating, banking) all presented as black, Sharpie-drawn boxes on a white background. It looked great but failed to capture the imagination of the millions I had envisaged. What it did do though, was prompt a friend of mine to suggest a couple of potential sister sites: justleftwork (for retirees) and justleftschool (for kids). They were both available. I started thinking of other justleft dot coms: justleftarms (ex-army), justleftalone (divorcees), justleftthecloset (young gay and lesbian kids), justleftprison (to annoy the Daily Mail). They were all there for the taking, so I took them.

“I redesigned justlefthome and turned it into a social network because I distinctly remember how tough it was to make friends when I moved to London, and later to New York. So now members can search for and meet each other, either as friends or – now I’ve added a boy/girl search filter – for a snog (and after that, who knows). They can add their own favourite places and tips, as well as songs and books, and it’s all wrapped up in a very different-looking box. Facebook is brilliant in many manyways but it does look a bit dull, and with every new feature they add it becomes more jumbled and confusing. Hopefully this isn’t the case with justlefthome. Not that I’m even remotely suggesting we should be in competition. In fact I hope that people meet on justlefthome and then friend each other on Facebook. And by displaying hand-drawn endorsements of brands I genuinely like (and think members will like too) instead of banner ads for cheap jewelry, I hope to retain the trust of the members.

“My marketing plan is similarly low-key: show it to student newspapers, students’ unions and directly to students via word-of-mouth, Facebook and Twitter. As somebody once said, if you build it they will come – and will tell their friends about it as well. So far they seem to like it, so I’m going to keep moving. Next stop: justleftthecloset.

“I’m not rich yet, but i genuinely think that a little family of quirky-looking niche networking sites will start to pay its way at some point, as well as helping a lot of people who might need a bit of a hand now and then. I bloody hope so anyway.”