University of Oregon senior Sean Thorne was just another student sitting in his 95-minute marketing class fall term of 2012. To save himself from boredom, he pulled out his phone and started exploring Facebook and Twitter. Little did he know that small act, which students do constantly every day, would inspire him to jumpstart a business that could change his life.

“I love Twitter but I was frustrated with the content,” Thorne said. “It’s not 100 percent relevant to me, my school, my college campus and my friends. Right then and there I started sketching and figuring out what I would want in a network for myself.”

From that epiphany, Thorne created Hallspot, a social networking website and mobile application aimed at college students. The service differs from the typical social media site in that it aims to connect individuals in real-time rather than in past and present events. Thorne explains that the site will allow students to network in an interactive map and to check in to locations and events to find out “What is happening right now.”

“He started with a simple idea but then rather than let it die on the back of a napkin ­— the burial ground for most ideas — he went after it with all his intensity,” said Steve Thorne, Sean’s father.

Hallspot may be Thorne’s most well-known and successful idea but the desire to connect and explore student networks has been a passion of his for years. Freshman year he produced a website designed to give incoming students advice on what he found relevant and important. This blog allowed Thorne to learn about what was possible on the internet and how important social media can be.

“Sean’s incredibly motivated,” Hallspot co-founder Adam Tirella said. “He likes to be involved in every step of the process from product conception, through development, and into promotion. He’s passionate about what he does and because of that he’s a great networker.”

According to Thorne, Hallspot is financially viable until October 2014 and the launch party hits the University of Oregon on Wednesday. Thorne’s creation will allow students to connect with the network around them through an interactive map of their campus.

More than a quarter of undergraduate students at the UO have already subscribed and Thorne soon hopes to expand the project to other universities.

Thorne, a 22-year-old business major, has grown up watching his father and many family friends tackle large projects with consistently mixed results. Thorne’s father says Sean grew up learning that the success or failure of a project should never prevent him from taking a chance and pursuing the next one, especially if there is a chance that it could be something he would enjoy.

“He is certainly not afraid of failure,” Steve Thorne said. “As a matter of fact, failure is never a word he would use — even if the project were not a success.  He has said, ‘Failure is just an opportunity to learn.’”