Spotted at Sheridan: flirtatious fun or a cesspool of smut?
Spotted at Sheridan is an anonymously moderated Facebook page, independent of the college, that allows students to namelessly post flirtatious comments about their peers.
Is this popular site simply a harmless way for students to share playful observations, or could it be used for more important, professional means?
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MARKO WOLOSHYN
The past few months have been, if nothing, eventful in the world of sex, dating and relationships.
A comedic giant is undergoing a scrutinizing social audit.
An iconic radio show host is set to spend the next couple of years in court with a teddy bear as his only line of defense.
A task force has been assigned to examine a university after a dentistry student blew the whistle on a sadistic boy’s club.
These are all awful things allegedly done by well-known people.
But this is good, the conversation is changing.
Now, in times of change, there are always some growing pains, and, sometimes, the pendulum swings a bit too far the other way.
I can understand why some may take issue with Spotted at Sheridan.
At times it can be crass, adolescent and downright clumsy – but isn’t that what flirting is all about?
Actually, the prospect of somebody paying a compliment to a stranger through a moderated webpage sounds a lot safer (and probably a lot less nerve-wracking for both parties) than stopping them in the street.
And yes, the Facebook group could serve a more professional purpose, but that exists elsewhere.
Students and staff create Facebook groups and pages for sharing news and ideas and asking for help.
I’m part of a few myself.
In some cases, Spotted at Sheridan has become more than a forum for people to compliment each others’ Zach Morris haircuts and Doctor Who laptop decals.
Several people have used the page as a lost-and-found.
Others pay compliments to staff and open mic performers.
Some people use it to simply reach out, express feelings of alienation, grief, anxiety and any other troubles that come with the transition to a new city, school, or program.
And their peers respond: They encourage. They support. They joke.
Not only is Spotted At Sheridan innocuous, it’s a community safety net.
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MANDI HARPER
To the humans in charge of Spotted at Sheridan, since when did Spotted become the new version of Craigslist’s casual encounters?
There is so much potential for the page to be something great and wonderful and inspiring.
Instead, I mostly find posts about shy girls who want to get laid but are too afraid to ask face to face or guys wondering why girls just aren’t interested in them.
This page has vacillated between being a comforting place to being an online version of the back page smut adverts.
The moderators need to be more discriminating about the posts they decide to display in order to keep the dignity of the page intact.
It does, however, give me hope that the administrators could possibly be romantics at heart, I mean, who else tries so hard to get strangers naked and alone with each other?
Although it is, at times, incredibly entertaining to read some of these wanted ads and their ensuing banterous comments, and I have, from time to time, learned something new (check out the definition of ‘thirsty’ on Urban Dictionary), it can also be regarded as somewhat annoying to the average user of Spotted.
Think of it this way; it’s distracting and it could possibly promote unsafe sexual activity.
I think it’s safe to say, most people would prefer to promote positive vibes than genital warts and there are many Facebook pages that accomplish just that.
Take Humans of New York, for instance.
They have recently been in the spotlight for the wonderful things social media can do.
Brandon Stanton, the photographer of HONY, is fulfilling his true potential by documenting the stories of everyday individuals in the city of New York.
He recently started a fundraiser on behalf of Mott Hall Bridges Academy in Brooklyn, to send students on a yearly trip to Harvard, based solely on the inspiring comments a boy made about his principal.
I get that Spotted has a limited audience compared to, say, the entire planet, but our world revolves around Sheridan and the people who have made this institution a part of their present and future.
Spotted at Sheridan has the power to inspire students on a level they never thought possible and I think it is high time the humans of Spotted put their power to use for the good of man or womankind at Sheridan instead of being a borderline smut service.
That is what Craigslist is for.
#CleanUpSpottedAtSheridan
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