The students call it Ctwitter, but for the past few months, the student feed of the Citrus College mobile app has been nothing short of a playground of raunchy memes and trash posting.
The feed on the Citrus College mobile app is an online social platform meant for students to interact outside of class, giving students access to help each other and receive information.
Sadly, some students have taken over the student feed to express their comedic minds in an unsavory manner, and I think this needs to be toned down because it makes the app less constructive.
Early before the start of the spring semester, I was scrolling on the Citrus mobile app to check for some used books and was surprised to find that my searches were tainted with sexually themed posts and intrusive memes.
The student feed has also seen a few political posts touching on sensitive topics like abortion and feminism.
A few posts from a new pro-life group recently stirred up some raucous and war of words on the student feed.
I am not against self-expression as that is a protected fundamental human right. However, I don’t think making fun of or attacking someone’s political views is OK, especially on the student feed, as there are other social media apps that fulfill this purpose.
Ignore it, take it somewhere else, or debate each other through private messages, not on the student feed.
It would also be nice if students would consider the feed a professional setting and refrain from posting things that would be frowned upon if done on campus.
The student feed has generated much concern that it was brought up at the Associated Students of Citrus College board meeting earlier this semester.
I spoke to student trustee Serena Mummert, and she said that an officer on the board brought up concerns about the misuse of the student feed because of complaints he received from students and faculty members.
She said the student life department is working on ways to moderate the student feed.
However, the student body government on March 28 approved a motion to recommend the removal of the student feed to Richard Rams, vice president of Student Services.
Although the app contains a feature allowing inappropriate posts to be reported, I doubt its effectiveness.
A post needs four reports to be taken down, but I think more need to be done to discourage students from making inappropriate posts.
Adding a dislike button to the student feed will be better at preventing students from making inappropriate posts and at least show that a specific population of Citrus mobile app users dislike the raunchy content being posted.
It would be nice if the app could be patterned after the popular social media site Reddit, which allows for posts to be downvoted or disliked and hidden.
Reddit also hides the full display of posts that have received enough downvotes but allows users interested in the hidden post to intentionally see it by clicking on it.
Many Citrus mobile app users use the student feed to ask questions about class registration, financial aid and other things that pertain to their Citrus College schooling experience.
For shy students, this is a way to stay updated with what is happening on campus because different departments, such as the library, the golf driving range, counseling, admissions and records, and the financial aid office, regularly post information.
Posting drab memes can be a turn-off to students who want to use the app productively, as these posts get in the way of other important information.
And based on the student body government’s recommendation to do away with feed, it will be wise if students will do good in regulating their activities so as not to lose this mode of expression which will be a sad loss to all, even to those who are frustrated by it.
