ecently, a few Twitter accounts grabbed the attention of the campus community. Twitter, Facebook and Storify parody accounts centering around members of the Elizabethtown College community were anonymously started. While these accounts seem harmless, the College has had to remind students about both the College’s and Twitter’s copyright conditions on using authorized logos during the past month. In some cases outside of Etown, violation of these rules has led to legal action.
According to Donna Talarico-Beerman, integrated marketing manager for Etown, the content of the accounts is not a concern. These parody accounts only became an issue for the school because of the misused College trademarked materials. However, when account owners were notified of the rules and regulations, they quickly removed the logos and made it clear these were parody accounts. Talarico-Beerman said, “Although professionally we should not be concerned with these external accounts, we can have the personal opinion that some of these posts seem hurtful and inappropriate.”
While some posts are meant to be funny, viewers who are not aware of the context could severely misunderstand them. Some of the tweets even go as far as mentioning individuals’ first and last names. Others accuse staff members of doing various outrageous activities. Talarico -Beerman encourages whoever is approving submissions for these accounts to use their best judgment when approving posts. She also encourages students to think twice before submitting posts, as their submission could potentially cause some harm.
The most widely known accounts include
@etownconfessions, @etownlies and @etowncrushes. Senior Ben Cable has been mentioned in these accounts quite a few times. He said, “A couple of my friends sent me screenshots of the tweets that I was mentioned in when they saw them. I thought they were hilarious. I later got on and read a lot of other ones.”
Despite most of the accounts’ intentions of providing entertainment, Talarico-Beerman suggests that if a student does feel upset about any of the posts or comments made about them “he or she should bring it up to their RA, Student Rights or someone they trust.” However, there is currently no policy in place from Students Rights. Perhaps if the issue does escalate it might need to be addressed.
Surprisingly, there was also a parody account for Carl Strikwerda. Currently, nothing offensive has been posted; however, this account violates both Twitter’s and the College’s policy.
“Think about it this way,” Talarico-Beerman said. “This person should protect themselves … he or she is impersonating a very important person—someone that person might collect a diploma from one day.”
In the past, Carl Strikwerda had an official Twitter account, however he used it very sparingly. About the impersonator, President Strikwerda said,”someone impersonating me prompted me to begin using it. Someone taking the time to create a fictitious account for me shows that perhaps people do want me on Twitter. So I’m learning Twitter and plan to get active on this medium, in addition to my Facebook page.” You can follow his official account at @etownpresident.
Through the eyes of the College, this fake account isn’t a serious problem, however, impersonating someone else online can be considered a serious crime because it violates Twitter’s terms and conditions.
