We immediately start talking about the app they are launching on 11th October, Swop. I would describe Swop as Tinder for friendship groups: friendship groups join the app, and if two groups swipe right on each other, they can access a messaging interface and plan a meet-up. They can also book their night out through the app. For instance, I remember creating a Hinge profile and then never going on the date. They also hope the app will help students meet groups of friends from different colleges: Swop was inspired by the Cambridge concept of swaps as well.
I ask them if they have inbuilt safeguards, in a context where the failure of dating apps to protect their users is well known. They say the app will have a reporting function and they will examine any complain swiftly and exclude problematic users. Their business model is daring. They invested their savings in the app and are not expecting it to become profitable for a few years. They developed Swop through daily meetings with a Manchester-based company, Padoq β something Sophia, who grew up in Manchester, is proud of.
They found the idea of the app at a party, in late June. They hesitated about going through with the project when they had to invest their personal savings, but not for long. They met in the Cindies smoking area, and then talked further at the Van of Life.
Sophia and Rebecca will have a full-time job next year, as well as work on expanding Swop. Varsity is the independent newspaper for the University of Cambridge, established in its current form in In order to maintain our editorial independence, our print newspaper and news website receives no funding from the University of Cambridge or its constituent Colleges. We are therefore almost entirely reliant on advertising for funding and we expect to have a tough few months and years ahead.
In spite of this situation, we are going to look at inventive ways to look at serving our readership with digital content and of course in print too!
