Carolina Pulse targets Yik Yak

It says its not Big Brother, but UNC is watching you on Twitter.

Natalie Vizuete, UNC’s director of social media, represented the University on a panel for Carolina Conversations on Tuesday. The panel, which was the second meeting of the series, focused on social media anonymity.

“What I heard a lot today was the feeling that the University was not listening,” said Vizuete to the group at the close of the event. “We’re listening, at least on social media, more than we ever have.”

Vizuete said the social media office was created in 2014, and part of their job is to pay attention to the conversations students are having on social media.

“We don’t do it in a Big Brother-type way,” Vizuete said. “A lot of times when we see students upset, we will push those comments up to my supervisor.”

Moderators asked students if they had ever felt offended by something they had seen on Facebook, Twitter or Yik Yak, using PollEverywhere. The response was an overwhelming yes.

“A lot of the conversations that UNC students have been having with each other have not necessarily been healthy conversations,” said Ivy Hardy, a senior and the speaker of Student Congress, who organized the event.

Hardy said social media can seem like it’s insignificant, but it affects those it targets.

“Students begin to feel marginalized and like they don’t belong here when they see the issues that are important to them don’t matter,” Hardy said.

Junior Madeleine Scanlon said as a white student these comments angered her, but she never realized how much they affected the students targeted by them.

“What I learned is basically the extent to which hurtful social media messages create an environment of distrust,” Scanlon said. “Students of color — they’re feeling they’re not belonging, especially with Yik Yak. It could be the person sitting next to you.”

Vizuete said the University has a profile on most social networking outlets, including Yik Yak.

“We’re listening, so keep your comments coming,” she said.

The event brought out about 50 students. Winston Crisp, vice chancellor for student affairs, said he was satisfied with the turnout and how the event went.

“To me, if 10 students show up and engage in the kind of intense dialogue that’s happening today, I think it’s worth doing,” Crisp said.

Some students expressed the desire for a more diverse group of students at the event — a similar sentiment expressed at the first installment of the Carolina Conversations series.

“The students that would really benefit from this event weren’t here, so the conversations, they were all agreeable and we all had similar experiences, but there was no other side,” said junior Andrew Kyeremeh.

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