Member Article

New social media app Jodel launches in York, helping to raise awareness on students’ mental health and the recent spiking incidents

• Jodel, the hyperlocal social media app makes UK debut in York, targeting university students
• App is helping students to raise awareness and share stories on the recent spiking incidents in the city, with its profileless feature
• The app is being used to raise awareness on mental health issues and is helping to prevent student loneliness, an issue exacerbated by the pandemic, by connecting them with like-minded people

Jodel, the hyperlocal social media app that instantly connects you to your local community, today announces its launch in York. Jodel is a profileless app which aims to remove the toxic aspects of social media, allowing students to reach out to peers for advice and enjoy entertaining content from people in their local area.

The app has seen students use it to ask candid questions and stories about their university experience and share insights on the local area. Popular conversations on the app include university advice, where to go out on student nights out, part-time jobs, as well as mental health and relationship problems. Recently in York, there has been an increase in spiking incidents. Because of the profile less feature, the app has allowed its users to share their stories and users are sharing tips on how to stay safe when out in the city drinking.

Since mid-October, when the app launched in York, it has seen over a thousand students using the app, an increase in users by 70% each week. In addition there have been over 3000 posts, generated by student users in York, discussing issues close to their heart. The app has helped to not only raise awareness of the spiking incidents, but support the recent #BigNightIn strike, encouraging other students to discuss how bars in York can make going out safer for students in the city.

Lara Budge, UK Expansion Manager at Jodel said: “We are happy to see the app being used to raise awareness on some of the most important issues that young people face, such as mental health, loneliness and of course to raise awareness and give tips on how to stay safe when out at bars and clubs in the city centre. The profile-less feature of Jodel allows students to share their stories without judgement or fear of being targeted after sharing their experiences. We are glad to see Jodel helping students to keep one another safe and support one another and it being used as a force for good in York and elsewhere in the UK.”

A quarter of 17–24-year-olds based in the UK surveyed by Jodel said they were most annoyed by the fakeness, editing and misleading imagery used on other social media platforms like Instagram. One in seven said other social media platforms led to feelings of insecurity and social pressure. Jodel’s app is profileless for this reason, allowing students to ask for advice, publish funny stories and connect with like-minded people without judgement and allows for open communication and sharing of real-life stories.

The app launched first in Scotland in September and since then has been launching across UK cities where university students are prevalent. Across the UK, the app has seen an increase in posts by 30% per week and is looking to engage the UK student population in 2022. Following the launch in York, the app then plans to be rolled out to the rest of the UK, focusing on large university cities like Sheffield, Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester, London.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nicholas Newman .