As students, many of us are on a continual quests to save money and conserve resources. A Portland-based community and website can help.
Rooster originated in Palo Alto, California as a mailing list, but took off in Portland, Oregon when it transitioned to being a community website. What makes Rooster different from other websites like Craigslist is that is prohibits the exchange of money for services—participants provide services and items for free.
Instead, when a user is helped by another, a thank you is posted online. Everything from physical items like furniture to services like dog walking or tutoring can be exchanged on the site.
CEO Tali Saar explained how Rooster can aid WSU Vancouver students. Saar mentioned students who furnished their entire dorms or apartments for free due to the generosity of local Rooster users.
All posted content is visible on user profiles in order to establish credibility, with further verification through Facebook and cell phone usage.
Trust and users safety are key to help those in the community, such as screening new member applications before they are able to post content. One of the key components that drives the website and its members is the concept of free trading, something Saar claims is human nature.
College students can benefit from people willing to help them, but those same students may not have much to give back to the community. Saar said those students should still use Rooster for what they need.
She also explained that even for busy college students, many people can give something back— even if its walking someone’s dog. “We’re counting on that human nature to reciprocate,”says Saar. Rooster can also be a place to inform larger audiences about campus-based charities, events, or other information.
Rooster has a plan in place to avoid people that wish to take advantage of the system. All posts a user makes will show up on their profile. If someone only has posts asking for free things and hasn’t contributed, Saar believes this allows the community the ability to “weed out” those bad apples.
Rooster can also be a place for students to find friends, gym buddies, musicians to jam out with, and so on. However, Rooster is not a place for finding dates. When posting on the category “activity partners and new friends” the website says “No dating on here.
Other sites are better for that.” As a last comment on the topic of students, Saar says, “In the last couple of months, we’re starting to see more and more students and 20-year-olds joining in and forming their own circles on Rooster, so I really hope that continues.
We welcome everyone. We really want to have the students on there. I don’t want to commit to anything, but we would definitely want to have Rooster on campuses that’s specific for students. It’s kind of a dream of mine.”
To join the Rooster community, sign up at www.portland.therooster.co