A student browses through social media on their phone. Zoe Kukla/The Daily Cardinal
Lucia Gadau
Mallory Lor, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, has always been naturally inclined to find communities that enhance her education and social experience. Throughout her time at UW, Lor used a variety of ways to find new clubs and feels some ways are inherently better than others.
Lor is a Nursing major and has been involved in nursing–related clubs since her freshman year. She is currently part of three clubs through UW: Golden Years Volunteers, Badger Volunteers and Aspiring Nurses Association (ANA).
Lor’s favorite club so far is Golden Years Volunteers, which she found by chance, scrolling on Instagram last year, and has been a member ever since..
It’s not uncommon for students to join a club and rarely go back for a number of reasons. For Lor, that club was ANA.
“I just felt like it was honestly a really big club and kind of hard to be involved in things,” Lor said.
Unlike Golden Years Volunteers, Lor found ANA through the Wisconsin Involvement Network (WIN).
“On the Wisconsin involvement network, it’s kind of confusing, because it includes every organization Madison has and not just clubs, like it includes fraternities and sororities which is kind of confusing,” Lor said.
Despite specifying her search results on WIN for Nursing clubs, she still was unable to find a club that fit her interests. Lor’s search for community turned out most successful on social media.
The reason social media can be better than other UW-sponsored databases (like WIN) in helping students find clubs, is because of purposeful algorithms that promote community based off of shared interests.
With social media however, the chance you will come across a club is much lower due to its prioritization of other content.
With the app ClubCrush, the benefits social media allows for easily connecting with clubs will be condensed and enhanced. Users will create a profile that highlights their needs and interests to replicate the personalized results that a social media algorithm provides.
“I would definitely use the app because it would be a way easier and faster way to find clubs that I’m interested in,” Lor said.