On Feb. 29 in a Board of Governors meeting, UNC System President Peter Hans announced his intention to ban anonymous social media apps in an effort to prevent cyberbullying, drug deals and sexual harassment.
The targeted apps include Yik Yak, Whisper, Sidechat and Fizz, the latter three of which I personally have never heard of being used.
There is a lot of controversy around Hans’ decision to ban anonymous apps, and understandably so. Though he has the right intentions in mind with this blockage — trying to create a safe space and save college students from negativity — the problem is not the apps that revolve around anonymity. The problem is social media itself.
Cyberbullying and sexual harassment is a common issue that online users experience across the social media spectrum. Things like leaving hate comments on people’s posts can diminish self-esteem, impact body image and convince people to view themselves in a negative light. If Hans’ goal is to prevent cyberbullying as a whole, he needs to look at all social media apps.
As desperately as Hans wants to eradicate online harassment, these things happen just as frequently on TikTok and Instagram as they do on anonymous apps. Regardless of the platform, social media users are able to hide behind a screen.
On every social media app, users have the choice of what to share about themselves. In fact, the whole point of social media has become to share highlight reels of your life.
You post yourself with a glowing tan while on a tropical vacation, the Christmas card where your entire family is smiling and the moment you get into your dream college. People only post the best versions of themselves — that is, if they even choose to post themselves at all.
There is not a single common social media that requires users to include their name in their username, nor to upload a picture of themselves. People can be anonymous if they want to. There is no way of stopping it. I cannot count the number of times, on the daily, that I scroll through social media and see hate comment after hate comment after hate comment. When I click on the user’s account, there is hardly ever an indication of the person’s identity. The username is a combination of random words, the profile picture is of a black screen and not a single post can be found on their account. People are relentless with negative posts and comments because there is no accountability for their actions.
Without a doubt, social media has single-handedly taken over and transformed our society. We are in far too deep for Hans to make any sort of dent in college students’ media consumption. Even if he bans anonymous apps through the Wi-Fi network, eduroam, students will still make an effort to use their personal data plans or turn on a virtual private network to use Yik Yak.
