By Kelli DeWalt

While most Web sites for women provide an abundance of information regarding fashion, glamour and beauty, only a few consist of much more. Last summer, ChickSpeak.com launched to try to fill in the gap.

The goal of ChickSpeak is to be “an organization for young women created to inspire big dreams, strong values and success in the world,” from their mission statement.

The staff plans to achieve this by providing advice and a close social network to women in college and beyond. The site also contains articles pertaining to relationships, travel, technology, fashion and more.

Christina Twomey created the site two years ago when she was in college.

“College is an incredibly intense time,” Twomey said. “While in school, I wish I had a resource for advice.”

Twomey wanted to create a Web site that had meaningful content that was “relevant and engaging” as well as “classy and professional.”

Chickspeak.com also allows women to get published. Anyone that is interested in writing an article can submit it and the staff personally reviews it for the website.

Once someone becomes a member, opportunities are presented to them such as being in contact with “virtual members.” These women are experts in their fields that are willing to respond to messages from members seeking advice on their future professions.

Students such as Carrie Hoffman, a junior film studies/production major, agree the site has intergrity.

“I really like that rather than just being a social networking page, it has a lot of articles and actual news stories of relevance to college women,” Hoffman said. “It also has a lot of different topics of interest so I’m sure there’d be something for everyone.”

Hoffman added she would probably join a site like ChickSpeak because it provides a better, “slightly more educational” way to procrastinate, instead of browsing Facebook.

Yet, others disagree.

“Some issues that they discuss are too trivial,” said Leigh Sauerbier, a sophomore speech major. “Other articles are a little too deep for the average college student.”

Sauerbier cited examples such as forums about one’s fashion knowledge while a series on eating disorders went too deep.

Regarding the advice the site doles out, “I feel that these people don’t know me and don’t know the specific things I’m going through,” Sauerbier said. “Everything is case-specific.”

Some girls are right in the middle. While they wouldn’t use the Web site themselves, they see how others might.

“Personally, I don’t really have time to browse around some website and read people’s stories about relationships or what not,” said Jennifer Allen, a junior elementary education and psychology major. “I feel like if I need advice on an issue I’ll just go to a friend.”

Allen said the site was cute and was similar to ‘Seventeen’ magazine.

“I can see how for some people it’d be helpful, and who knows, maybe it’ll come to mind one day when I want suggestions on something girly,” she said.

Bottom line: ChickSpeak.com has good intentions and positive attributes such as fun and interesting articles. But, it falls short at thinking young women will turn to a website for advice over their friends and family.

The home page of ChickSpeak.com, designed to inspire young women. (Chickspeak.com)