By Matthew Kaufman
Editor-in-Chief
The College has removed students’ ability to make posts on TCNJ Roar, an app that serves as an information hub for the campus community.
Where previously students could write a post on the Student Feed and make it visible to any app user, TCNJ Roar now only shows a series of curated news highlights from TCNJ Magazine, TCNJ.edu, TCNJ Athletics and The Signal. Students can still send direct messages to each other.
“In reviewing the use of the chat feature, the College determined that it did not warrant the increasing amount of resources and support to maintain it given its generally low and inconsistent usage by students,” Luke Sacks, the College’s head of media relations, told The Signal.
While the Student Feed was not extremely popular across campus, there was a community of students who frequented the app. Because of this, some students who spoke with The Signal said they were disappointed by the changes made to TCNJ Roar.
“I really liked posting on the Roar app because it was a good way for me to connect with people that I didn’t know,” said Meredith, a sophomore biology major who preferred not to give her full name. “It just helped me feel more connected to people.”
Meredith said she even made a friend on TCNJ Roar, Michael McNaughton, who saw her posts on the app and messaged her. McNaughton told The Signal that he enjoyed the memes Meredith was posting, and they formed a connection through that and a mutual enjoyment of video games.
“That’s a good example of how the Roar app allowed students to find out more about each other and find common ground,” Meredith said.
McNaughton said that in addition to the social aspect of the Student Feed, the feature provided a utility for students who lost things, were giving old things away or were selling old textbooks and supplies. “I don’t know where else to advertise that,” McNaughton said.
The two agreed that what made the Student Feed special was the fact that every TCNJ student had access to it.
“It’s 2024. People meet each other on social media,” Meredith said. “[TCNJ Roar] is an app that everyone downloads, and everyone can use, as long as they’re not breaking terms of service. It’s the best way to facilitate meeting people, and I can’t think of a more efficient way to do that.”
For students who were not frequent users of TCNJ Roar’s Student Feed, the news did not provoke much of a reaction.
“Personally, the Roar app isn’t something I frequently use to stay connected on campus so this change doesn’t bother me,” said Janelle Estime, a sophomore psychology major.
Dora Sauer, a sophomore political science major, said that she supported the change, saying that the use of the Student Feed for joke posting created a distraction for users of the app.
“I think people lost sight of what the Roar app was designed for and used it more as a form of social media instead of its intended purpose of helping out students,” Sauer told The Signal. “I think using it the way people did led to many individuals not taking the app seriously and overlooking it as a resource.”
A version of TCNJ Roar was first released in 2018. Though the Student Feed feature has been removed, other features like Canvas schedule and assignment integration, event check-in, a campus directory and more are still available. While the app is developed by Ready Education, the College retains control over the features accessible to students.
