A few days ago, curiosity got the best of me. With barely any hesitation, I opened Snapchat, clicked “Add Friends” and typed in the username “elon.snap."
After I clicked to view their “Story”, I immediately regretted the decision.
I tapped through the images on my screen. At first, I’ll admit, I was entertained. But after I got about six pictures in, entertainment quickly turned to discomfort. The images were all very similar. People — alleged Elon University students — posted photos showing off their drug paraphernalia, drinking alcohol and at times posing nude. Many of these pictures were even filtered with Elon’s geotags.
Immediately, I started asking myself a number of questions. I know that sex, drugs and alcohol hold quite the presence on our campus — I am not denying nor necessarily condemning this — but who would be broadcasting this on a public social media account? Who is running this account? Are these really Elon students?
In all honesty — and I don’t think I am alone in saying this — the content posted on the story is disgusting. It is one thing to be engaging in illegal or dangerous activities, but obviously promoting these acts and broadcasting them to anyone who chooses to see is in many ways more reckless and irresponsible.
This kind of blatantly illegal content is very dangerous for Elon students to be posting. I understand how the kind of content posted on “elon.snap” can be entertaining, even funny to many, but the consequences of that kind of content are far worse.
With just a simple screenshot, Campus Security or Town of Elon Police could identify students and charge them with underage drinking or drug possession. In many ways, college students seem to feel invincible, like they could never get in trouble for what they're doing. But, it is important to remember that social media makes the world a much smaller place.
This issue goes back to an overarching warning that has been issued to our generation time and time again — we must be careful of what we post on social media. It then begs the question of why Elon students feel the need to post these images onto a public story.
It makes me wonder if students really do just simply find it entertaining, or if there is a sense of fulfillment that is reached after posting this content, knowing that other students will see how much “fun” you are having.
Regardless, the bottom line is that this account is dangerous and also not representative of Elon’s student body as a whole. It is no shock that after just a short run, “elon.snap” has deleted their account, but I would not be surprised if another account like this surfaces in the coming days. This is perhaps my greatest fear coming out of this.
If “elon.snap” does make a grand return to our campus, think before you submit a photo or even add the account as a friend. The consequences of posting to this site are far worse than Elon students often realize. Leave your weekend activities to be seen by you and your friends: there is no need for the world to see.