Juice Wireless, a company that lets its users post photos, text, and videos to weblogs and Internet profiles, said Tuesday it is teaming up with College Tonight, a new social network that aims to keep college students plugged in to their campus’s social scene.

Members of College Tonight will be able to use Juice Wireless’s networking and mobile content-sharing service, JuiceCaster, to access the social network’s features from any mobile phone with a camera and Internet connection.

College Tonight’s features include local campus event listings, a calculator called the “Inebriation Station” that lets users check their approximate blood alcohol content, and a “Crush Calculator,” which lets members reveal and discover their crushes.

“College students use their mobile phones continually throughout the day and night,” said Nick Desai, chairman and co-founder of Juice Wireless. “With Juice Caster, College Tonight users can share everything that happens instantaneously, the moment it happens.”

The Juice Wireless deal will also give College Tonight members the ability to instantly share photographs or send audio “shout-outs” from the parties and events they are attending via their cell phones for free.

Depending on a member’s privacy settings, these items may be viewed by anyone on campus looking for something to do, or a specific group of friends.

Students Only

College Tonight, based in Los Angeles, launched nearly four weeks ago. Unlike MySpace and Facebook, College Tonight is open only to those with an .edu email address.

So far, the service is available on 194 campuses, including the University of Florida and EmoryUniversity. Campus venues, from bars to concert halls, can use the network to advertise anything from special events to happy hour deals to members for a $50 monthly fee. Individuals can also announce parties, events, and other daily happenings.

“We see ourselves as the site that really increases social interactivity,” said Zachary Suchin, president and CEO of College Tonight. “It’s not a site that lassos you to a sedentary lifestyle like the YouTubes, the Facebooks, and the MySpaces.”

And because the network stresses actual social interaction over cyber interaction, user profiles are kept short and basic. There is no place for users to wax poetic about their favorite bands or recap TV episodes.

Mr. Suchin said the site will hire a team of students at each university who will sell memberships, as well as banner ads and video ads, to local venues. Those members also will be responsible for keeping information up to date.

College Tonight is also in talks with film studio Fox Searchlight, Viacom’s MTV, and digital music-downloading site Burn Lounge, said Mr. Suchin, although he declined to offer details.

Still, it’s unclear whether students who already use MySpace and Facebook will want to invest in a new social network.

MySpace and Facebook also offer mobile content-sharing features, and members can communicate similar information to their network of friends, said David Card, an analyst with JupiterResearch.

“The idea of integrating the actual physical world into the virtual community makes a lot of sense, but [College Tonight] needs to prove itself before it will work,” said Mr. Card.

For now, Mr. Suchin and the other eight employees at College Tonight are concentrating on building features to draw users and differentiate the site from the crowd. He is also keeping his eye on the big media companies that may be in the market for a social network.

“All of these companies are looking to find the next potential blockbuster Internet site for very cheap,” Mr. Suchin said, referring to Viacom and other big media companies. “If they show a major financial interest in a site like mine, they’re not going to have to pay $1 billion.”

Contact the writer:AWeinstein@RedHerring.com

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