I logged onto Facebook as usual, expecting to see new photos uploaded from Spring Break trips and statuses about the struggle to transition back into classes. Instead, I was greeted with anonymous updates such as "I'd hug trees with those guys any day, if you know what I mean," "I puked on the couch of a hall I don't live in" and "yes, you look fat in that dress."
DePauw students, educated and alert as we are, are no strangers to online interaction. Whether we chose to change our pictures to bright blocks of color or whether we ardently argue against such overt displays of belief, we are nonetheless aware of this online realm for discourse.
But there is a fine line between these displays and exploitation. The newly emerging Facebook forums such as DePauw Confessions, DePauw Crushes and DePauw Insults toe this line.
Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of reading the posts on these pages, and some are hilariously entertaining. But it's that occasional post that goes too far, and I have a sinking feeling that it is only a matter of time before a post is overtly alarming, prejudicial or just uncalled for. I've read more than a few crushes, confessions and insults that made me think, "Wow, I'm so glad that comment is not directed toward me."
There's something inherently uncontrolled and risky about these posts, because they are anonymous by nature. We don't ask for our names to be put on the DePauw Crushes page, yet they can appear and we may never know who mentioned them. Granted, posts can be removed, but all it takes is one person to see it for the message to spread. We don't know who is confessing to what, and we don't know who is critiquing what.
Maybe these forums spark conversation outside of the Internet realm - I've overheard a few "real-life" conversations about each myself. But the lack of accountability can also inhibit further argument.
How can we have a discussion if we don't know to whom we're talking? Better yet, what kind of discussion are we choosing to engage in when the participants will not own up to their statements? Personally, I think that it's important to own our beliefs. If you aren't willing to wear a shirt with a flag or message for a cause, don't post that flag or message online. If you aren't willing to own up to your crushes, actions or insults, then maybe it's time to reassess them.
It is time for social media users, especially those at DePauw, to be willing to broadcast their views in public, not just behind a computer screen. We need to take responsibility for what we post, and then be willing to defend those views in a productive, respectful conversation - not hide behind the cloak of anonymity those silly groups like DePauw Crushes, Insults or Confessions champion. We're not middle school gossip addicts, so let's have our contributions to the virtual world reflect that.
- Grauer is a sophomore from Rocky River, Ohio majoring in art history.