With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, love is in the air. The weather is getting warmer, the flowers will soon be in bloom and young singles are eager to enter the season of love. Dating is certainly not uncommon at a place like Asbury, but a rise in discontent with traditional methods has resulted in the emergence of new and creative ways to try to get that ring by Spring. Some of these new methods take the form of none other than Instagram pages such as @asburymatchmaker and @asburybachelor.
Anonymous student-run Instagram pages are not new to Asbury, but this recent wave of Instagram accounts has gained unprecedented attention within the student body. While these accounts can be entertaining, it isn’t always fun and games. While many enjoy the matchmaking efforts and lighthearted jokes, others worry about being featured without their permission or having personal details shared in a public forum.
The @asburymatchmaker account, for example, allows students to anonymously ship other students together. While accounts like this have the potential to be entertaining, they can also cause a myriad of problems. This page in particular does not appear to obtain consent from the students who are featured on the page. To quote one student’s post on the @asburygrievances account, “bro its getting out of hand my friend’s gf got posted on there and it almost got bad.” When students are posted on a social media page without their consent, it has the potential to cause real problems between real people, not to mention harassment and bullying.
While posts that are deemed problematic can be deleted, some of the posts that have been made on these pages beg the question, “Why was that ever posted in the first place?” One of the most prominent examples was an ableist post with a disabled caf worker and an Asbury student on the @asburymatchmaker page, which insinuated that being shipped with a person with a disability is laughable, a joke that was made at the disabled person’s expense. Luckily this post was taken down, but it exemplifies the dangers of student accounts that are run by nameless, faceless people who can essentially post whatever they want. While the posts themselves can be deleted, the harm that is caused by these posts can never be erased and can often further attitudes of prejudice within the student body. By the time the backlash builds and a post is removed, the damage has often already been done.
Instagram pages like @asburymatchmaker, @asburybachelor and @asburygrievances are just a small snapshot of anonymous student accounts that are used by Asbury students. While the specifics of the student-run accounts from Asbury might be unique, these kinds of accounts are not uncommon on college campuses as a whole. Social media pages like Fizz and YikYak are notorious for cyberbullying as a result of the anonymity of their users.
According to a study published in the Journal of Cybersecurity, 40% of university students report being cyberbullied, and 30% of participants in the study also agreed that anonymity increases cyberbullying. While it is abundantly clear that university students as a whole are not strangers to issues of cyberbullying, social media usage and anonymous accounts, there is one thing that makes Asbury University different from other college campuses.
As a Christian institution, Asbury University claims a commitment to treating others with dignity as though they are made in the image of God, and the actions of Asbury students don’t just reflect on Asbury University, they reflect on the Christian community as a whole. People who are not a part of the Asbury community or who are not Christians see how we conduct ourselves online. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at a comment that was left under a controversial @Asbury_cant_park post that says, “If you think this ableist joke is funny, maybe you belong at Asbury…” Ouch. Is that how we want our student body to be viewed? Is that how we want Christians to be viewed?
While the anonymous social media pages that are run by members of our student body can seem like fun, they also carry with them the potential for tremendous harm, whether through embarrassment, breaches of consent or the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes. As members of a Christian institution, Asbury students ought to possess a greater commitment to conducting ourselves responsibly online. Ultimately, the way we treat others, whether face-to-face or from behind a screen, should align with the principles we claim to uphold. If our digital footprint reflects who we are, then let it be one of integrity, empathy and love.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Ring by Spring goes online
With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, love is in the air. The weather is getting warmer, the flowers will soon be in bloom and young singles are eager to enter the season of love. Dating is certainly not uncommon at a place like Asbury, but a rise in discontent with traditional methods has resulted in the emergence of new and creative ways to try to get that ring by Spring. Some of these new methods take the form of none other than Instagram pages such as @asburymatchmaker and @asburybachelor.
Anonymous student-run Instagram pages are not new to Asbury, but this recent wave of Instagram accounts has gained unprecedented attention within the student body. While these accounts can be entertaining, it isn’t always fun and games. While many enjoy the matchmaking efforts and lighthearted jokes, others worry about being featured without their permission or having personal details shared in a public forum.
The @asburymatchmaker account, for example, allows students to anonymously ship other students together. While accounts like this have the potential to be entertaining, they can also cause a myriad of problems. This page in particular does not appear to obtain consent from the students who are featured on the page. To quote one student’s post on the @asburygrievances account, “bro its getting out of hand my friend’s gf got posted on there and it almost got bad.” When students are posted on a social media page without their consent, it has the potential to cause real problems between real people, not to mention harassment and bullying.
While posts that are deemed problematic can be deleted, some of the posts that have been made on these pages beg the question, “Why was that ever posted in the first place?” One of the most prominent examples was an ableist post with a disabled caf worker and an Asbury student on the @asburymatchmaker page, which insinuated that being shipped with a person with a disability is laughable, a joke that was made at the disabled person’s expense. Luckily this post was taken down, but it exemplifies the dangers of student accounts that are run by nameless, faceless people who can essentially post whatever they want. While the posts themselves can be deleted, the harm that is caused by these posts can never be erased and can often further attitudes of prejudice within the student body. By the time the backlash builds and a post is removed, the damage has often already been done.
Instagram pages like @asburymatchmaker, @asburybachelor and @asburygrievances are just a small snapshot of anonymous student accounts that are used by Asbury students. While the specifics of the student-run accounts from Asbury might be unique, these kinds of accounts are not uncommon on college campuses as a whole. Social media pages like Fizz and YikYak are notorious for cyberbullying as a result of the anonymity of their users.
According to a study published in the Journal of Cybersecurity, 40% of university students report being cyberbullied, and 30% of participants in the study also agreed that anonymity increases cyberbullying. While it is abundantly clear that university students as a whole are not strangers to issues of cyberbullying, social media usage and anonymous accounts, there is one thing that makes Asbury University different from other college campuses.
The slippery slope of opinions
As a Christian institution, Asbury University claims a commitment to treating others with dignity as though they are made in the image of God, and the actions of Asbury students don’t just reflect on Asbury University, they reflect on the Christian community as a whole. People who are not a part of the Asbury community or who are not Christians see how we conduct ourselves online. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at a comment that was left under a controversial @Asbury_cant_park post that says, “If you think this ableist joke is funny, maybe you belong at Asbury…” Ouch. Is that how we want our student body to be viewed? Is that how we want Christians to be viewed?
While the anonymous social media pages that are run by members of our student body can seem like fun, they also carry with them the potential for tremendous harm, whether through embarrassment, breaches of consent or the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes. As members of a Christian institution, Asbury students ought to possess a greater commitment to conducting ourselves responsibly online. Ultimately, the way we treat others, whether face-to-face or from behind a screen, should align with the principles we claim to uphold. If our digital footprint reflects who we are, then let it be one of integrity, empathy and love.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.