Shizzlr keeps friends connected

Facebook can dilute just as much as it can enhance social life. When personal updates are public and status updates are frequent, the line between a close friend and an updated spectator can fade. For all the networking Facebook provides, it has yet to deliver the basic intimacy of a private, special friendship.

Two UConn grads want to bring some intimacy, privacy and exclusivity back into social networking. Keith Bessette and Nick Jaensch, both 2010 MBA graduates, created Shizzlr – or "the site that connects you to your real friends" – in an attempt revive the personal connection largely absent from most online networking sites.

The site's objective? To show people what is happening, and help them get there with their closest friends.

"It started as a version where people would just click where they were going – so people could see what events are going on and where the crowd is going," Jaensch said. "Then you could talk to your closest friends about where they were going and see what they wanted to do."

Shizzlr, as described by its official website, is "for showing you what's going on and allowing you to group message with your closest friends about it in a private format." It's for young people to coordinate their plans, effectively and efficiently, without the publicity that allows the grandmother, boss, ex-girlfriend or every other contact know exactly what they are doing that night.

It works by combining all the nuances of today's technology, adapting to iPhone, Android and Blackberry while utilizing Facebook accounts to send out private group messages after using Shizzlr to discover local events.

According to the website, the process goes as such: "Shizzlr sends messages via text messgage, our phone apps, and thru [the] website. So when you start a plan, your friends will get your message on their phone. When they reply, their message goes to everyone in the group like a reply all!"

And just like that, you can plan to do what you want with whomever you want, without having to explain it to everyone the next day.

The site is growing quickly, receiving much state and even national attention as investors notice the site's potential. Jaensch knows, however, that Shizzlr has a very deep connection with the University of Connecticut, where it all started.

"UConn got our foot in the door," he said. "It got us some opportunities. Our professors really helped us get started. Now that we have some funds and credibility, we want to really work with people in the UConn community. UConn feedback will be taken as some of the most important feedback."

And the future of Shizzlr seems to be a bright one. Though decreased privacy has become the main issue with massive social networking (so much so that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg breaks out in a sweat when asked about it), privacy is Shizzlr's main draw.

The website notes, "the plans you make on Shizzlr can only be seen by friends that you've added to Shizzlr. Privacy is held to a very high standard in Shizzlr because it's about personal conversations and plans with your closest friends and the public doesn't need to see or know any of that."

A few thousand users have already signed up on Shizzlr. Jaensch hopes to get thousands more in the coming months.

He isn't the only one. The UConn grads have received $350,000 in state and private funds to get the site up and running.

It's fair to say more than two guys are invested in this youthful project. And it's fair to say a lot more than two think it is a worthwhile investment.