Temple students who are eager to share what’s on their minds with the world have taken to Twitter. It’s no surprise to glance at any Temple student’s Twitter timeline and see their peers dominating the feed. These updates aren’t just coming from friends’ personal Twitter accounts, but Temple parody accounts. There’s no shame in admitting many Temple girls (and boys) have probably scrolled through three of the most popular accounts–Temple Make Outs, TU Crushes and TU Fashion Police — scanning the feed for their own names and pictures.
While some might take pleasure in the accounts, not taking every tweet to heart, others might not. October is National Anti-Cyber Bullying Awareness month. Some might view what they post online as just fun and games, but according to the National Crime Prevention Council, 43% of teens were victims of cyber bullying just last year. This number continues to increase since the introduction of social media.
Two of the Temple accounts post pictures of people, many without the consent of those in the pictures. Temple Make Outs posts pictures of people engaged in more personal exploits, while TU Fashion Police tweets pictures of people roaming campus blissfully unaware they are being judged for their fashion choices. Is this a form of cyber-bullying? To some it may seem funny, even harmless, but the hurt egos of some may go unnoticed.
As a follower of these popular Temple inspired Twitter accounts, I was curious of how the administrators viewed their accounts and what their original intention for their account was. Did they see any problem with what they were posting? I contacted the administrators of TU Fashion Police who graciously accepted to do an anonymous interview via email.
The account, inspired by “Gossip Girl,” started as a fun side project for the two administrators who have a strong interest in fashion and wanted to have an impact on campus. The two administrators who run the account tweet about weather-appropriate fashion, the dos and don’ts of campus wear, and retweet fellow students who snap pictures of their peer’s fashion misfortunes. Though the administrators assure the account is purely for recreation over the past two years it seems to have developed into an online fashion Slam Book. It is evident this was not the administrators’ original intention, but where do we draw the line between amusement and ridicule?
Thumbing through the feed you might find more negative tweets than positive fashion feedback and to my dismay I have come across a few familiar faces. “No one has ever asked to have their picture taken down. And we also try not to include people’s faces in pictures,” replies Fashion Police when asked about negative reactions from followers. Though there may not be an influx of opposing reactions there are plenty of negative tweets that plague the timeline itself. The administrators are honest about the negative connotations of the account name, Fashion Police.
“It definitely encourages negativity. Looking at the account, we would love to see more positive feedback about what people are wearing! I think that we and our followers got into the habit of focusing on negativity,” the account administratiors say. They also stress that the account is completely opinion based and open to criticism. The two even have tactics to combat the meanness that might show through the tweets and go on to joke about their own fashion faux pas.
“We try to respond to the negativity by reminding our followers that this account is 100% our opinion…which obviously can be disagreed with. We recognize that we are real people too and no better than anyone else for running this account, so just because we say we like or dislike something doesn’t mean that we think everyone will agree. We’ve also had plenty of days in sweats and workout clothes on campus, and always joke about one of us getting our picture put up on the account.” The administrators admit they would absolutely retweet a picture of themselves if someone sent one in.
Aside from talking about their twitter account, the Temple Fashion Police offered some fashion advice of what they love seeing on campus and some things they wish would disappear. “Lots of warm fuzzy layers. Layers are good for classes too since some classes are freezing and others are like a sauna. We love to see people’s personal style come out, especially when they are rocking unique pieces.” Something to keep out of your casual day wear would be, “crop tops on a Tuesday afternoon.” The Fashion Police say, “Neither of us are fans.” The Fashion Police even draw inspiration for their own style from other girls on campus, and like to switch up their personal styles just for the fun of it.
Though the account and account administrators hold true to the idea that it is all in good fun, it would be refreshing to see a shift in how the account is run over the next few months. The administrators agree they would like to see more positive tweets and hopefully they will promote this to their followers. Encouraging this type of favorable interaction between classmates can only have positive affects for the bond Temple students already share. Expressing compliments might make more of an impact than insults.