UNC Student Invents Campus Safety App with Social Media Influence
Grooop, a mobile app that touts a hybrid of campus safety and social media, was created by a junior at the University of North Carolina.
The student originally came up with the idea when she was a senior in high school.
A junior at the University of North Carolina invented an app designed to keep students safe by staying connected with friends.
Nina Barnett came up with the idea for the app, named Grooop, during her senior year of high school, reports the Daily Tarheel. Her intention was to come up with something that helped keep all of her friends linked when they were out together.
“I became interested in this idea because I saw the need for a fun, safe way to keep track of my friends, and I didn’t want to just sit around waiting for something to get invented,” says Barnett. “I was the ‘mom’ of the friend group, and I wanted an easy, efficient way to make sure every single one of my friends was safe.”
The self-proclaimed ‘mom’ says she has feared for her own safety several times on the UNC campus, but never to the point where she felt calling the police was necessary.
“I had moments when I was on UNC’s Main Street walking home from studying and I was really worried about my safety, but I never felt like I should call the police,” says Barnett. “Grooop is a way to stay safe with such minimal actions, but I don’t have to go from safe to calling the police.”
Barnett took her idea to Smashing Boxes, a company based out of Durham, that designs and develops technological platforms. The company decided to take on the project and spent a few months conducting research and development such as post-trial surveys filled out by test users.
How Does Grooop Work?
Grooop, which is now available for download in Apple’s App Store, requires a user name, phone number and email to sign up, according to studybreaks.com.
The next step is to either create a ‘New Zone’ or a ‘New Groop’. A ‘New Zone’ is an area the user deems safe, such as a dorm room, gym, or library. A ‘New Grooop’ allows the user to place friends they want to notify of their location in one place.
There are four status options: ‘Alert!’, ‘Out & About’, ‘I’m Ready’ and ‘I’m good’. If the user leaves a safe zone, all group members automatically receive the ‘Out & About’ notification.
The app also has a lock screen widget available so the user can update their status without unlocking their phone.
Barnett, a dramatic arts and physics major, says her two majors have aided in her success of developing the app.
Dramatic arts has helped with presentation and people skills when pitching the idea to companies and campuses.
As for physics, “The way of problem-solving involved in a ‘physics mind’ helps to analyze many situations, which proves to be essential during meetings, hiccups in development and marketing,” says Barnett.
What Makes it Stand Apart from Other Campus Safety Apps?
Barnett says the app is a hybrid of a safety alert app and a social platform.
“I think Grooop is the first safety app that is something that you would check every day like social media, but is also something that’s necessary and vital to a college student’s life to stay safe on campus,” says Barnett. “It’s so necessary, but also something that is not a burden.”
After a soft-launch in June, Barnett hired business ambassadors to help with both production and marketing of the app.
Kenney McGuiness, a sophomore at UNC, became a campus ambassador for the app and is in charge of hiring additional campus ambassadors at other universities.The idea is that a campus ambassador will promote the app on their campus and organize events focused on campus safety.
McGuiness’s hope is that the app will thrive at UNC while the group ]closely manages it, and then it will make its way to other campuses across the globe.
“Going off to college is a scary thing, and it is so different than being at home,” says McGuiness. “Parents put a lot of trust into sending their kids off, so we want Grooop to give a feeling of security to both parents and students. It is supposed to comfort them.”
Barnett and her team are continuing to improve the app using business development strategies and feedback from users.
“I am super passionate about the success of Grooop, but I am more passionate about improving safety on campuses,” says Barnett.
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About the Author
Amy Rock, Executive Editor
Amy is Campus Safety’s Executive Editor. Prior to joining the editorial team in 2017, she worked in both events and digital marketing.
Amy has many close relatives and friends who are teachers, motivating her to learn and share as much as she can about campus security. She has a minor in education and has worked with children in several capacities, further deepening her passion for keeping students safe.
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