The League has released information on which users were accepted from the pool of applicants at its December Pittsburgh launch.
Just 21 percent of applicants were were accepted: 512 of 2,537.
The top three schools that passed the filter were the University of Pittsburgh (12% of accepted applicants), Carnegie Mellon University (11%) and Pennsylvania State University (8%).
8% worked at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 5% worked at PNC bank and 2% worked at DICK’s Sporting Goods.
Lawrenceville was the most successful neighbourhood in the round of applications, home to 6% of admitted users. It was followed by Shady Side (5%) and Squirrel Hill (4%).
Since launching in Pittsburgh, the app has received an average of two requests per day to host a Steelers chat room where sports fans can meet. The feature will soon be added.
The League describes the initial group of users in a city as its ‘Founding Class’.
They are selected via an algorithm which, among other sources, draws data from LinkedIn.
Post-gazette.com coverage of the launch raises concerns about potential elitism built into the algorithm – The University of Pittsburgh and CMU cost $18,130 and $52,732 per year respectively for Pennsylvania residents.
Founder Amanda Bradford says in response: “Unless they’re going to call all of the workplaces and educational institutions elitist, I don’t think an application-based app is elitist.”
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