Macinsiders.com features news and views on student life

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Fullerton_Chad1.jpg” caption=”Chad Fullerton is the founder and president of macinsiders.com. Photo by Susan Bubak.”]Students looking for the inside scoop on campus life at McMaster don't need to look any further than macinsiders.com. The student-run website features articles, videos and forums where students can discuss all aspects of university life.

With over 1,000 members, including more than 400 first-year students who joined in the past few weeks, the site has become an increasingly popular destination for undergraduates. By the time these first-year students set foot on campus in September, they will already have “met” other students through the website.

“The main motivation behind starting MacInsiders was wanting to provide information from a student's perspective about the many opportunities at McMaster that I wish I would have known more about during my early years, and to do so within a friendly online community,” says MacInsiders founder and president Chad Fullerton, a third-year student in communication studies and multimedia.

Fullerton explains that when he was in first year, he didn't have siblings or close friends at McMaster who could answer his questions about university life, so he turned to online resources, finding that most were confusing, or didn't provide enough interaction with students.

“Nobody understands students better than students themselves,” says Fullerton, adding that since all of the MacInsiders staff are students, they can relate to other students because they have been through the same experiences.

MacInsiders was officially recognized as an MSU club in January 2007. In addition to Fullerton, five students serve as vice-presidents on the executive branch. The “street team” consists of students who write articles and promote social events hosted by MacInsiders and other MSU clubs.

From tips on buying a laptop to the top items to bring to residence, the website caters to students' needs and interests. Students can also respond to stories and post comments.

“If an article receives a large amount of responses, we turn it into a series and write similar follow-up articles,” says Fullerton, referring to a recent six-part series called Getting Involved at Mac.

Although most of the content is written by MacInsider staff members, Fullerton encourages any student to submit stories to the website. He says dozens of upper-year students have expressed interest in getting involved. A general meeting will be held on campus in September for those who want more information about joining the club.