The Twitter shame game

As seniors make their decision on where they will attend college, many will elect to broadcast their choice to the world by posting it to social media.

A popular site for seniors to post about college acceptance is Twitter. Twitter has the capabilities for users to be able to search keywords to find out about who else is attending specific universities.

After these posts, other students may reply with positive remarks, but unfortunately, there are some harsh and rude comments. These disrespectful replies might not be seen daily by the casual user, but they are out there.

“People have every right to celebrate and be happy they got in somewhere,” senior Brantford Park said. “Respect should go both ways.”

There are two types of people who are generally posting these negative responses. One is those who feel that they are not going to a school as “prestigious” as the person who is posting about will be attending. The other is a person who feels that their school is superior to that of the person who has posted. The “shamer,” as it has become known on Twitter, is either jealous, or snobby.

Due to the “shaming” on social media websites, many people feel scared to post anything related to higher education. This could be classified as cyber-bullying, but the offense does not go further than a small, uncivil comment.

If students were positive and felt glad to see a peer achieve success, whether they are going to attend a Junior College or an Ivy League University, there should be some form of camaraderie between classmates. There is no room for the abuse, and it must end.