The effective closing-down of ‘Spotted: University of York’ – popular Facebook page and every procrastinator’s new best pal, caused, it is fair to say, a bit of a palava – hell, maybe even a full-blown fiasco on Monday morning.
The attention the arguments have gained over the past 12 hours have certainly stirred many from their essay-induced waking-slumber, with students taking breaks to jump to the defence of the page in the name of free speech, or to support protest group ‘Stopped?’ which triggered the end of ‘Spotted’s’ brief time in the limelight.
The thing is, the argument as to whether it was right for the page to be shut down seems to have split student opinion right down the middle. The side of the protesters contend that the page was guilty of sexual harassment, whilst their ‘rivals’ fight for their right to free speech and contest the idea that such a page could be in any way harmful.
Whilst both make valid points, neither side is totally right in this, which, I guess, means that by default they’re also both a bit wrong…
The majority of students are most likely in favour of ‘Spotted’, or at least ambivalent enough about it to rather it was not stopped. The number of likes (or event attendees in the case of ‘Stopped?’) says as much. However, just because more people would rather it stayed than went does not mean that it should.
Clearly enough people have been affected by this to such an extent, whether directly or indirectly, that they feel the need to take some kind of action. The easy argument goes that they should just ‘unlike’ the page – they would no longer see the posts and could get on with their lives as normal again, right?
Wrong. The fact that the page exists is clearly something that goes beyond the realms of a personal grievance for these protesters. The fact that it is there, even if they cannot see it, is bothering to them.
To most, the whole thing may seem like a light-hearted joke; a welcome distraction; a bit of laughter to break up the hours of essay writing and revision that hang around the beginning of the spring term like a dark cloud. This is not the case for everyone though, as those who are so quick to criticise the protesters need to take a step back and try and respect that.
At the end of the day, this is not really about free speech, it’s about not wanting something that is funny to go away, and that is fair enough. To be honest, it’s actually a stronger argument for keeping the page – it’s ceasing to exist does not in truth have effect on anybody’s free speech, whilst it does remove something that has clearly brought a little bit of joy to quite a lot of people.
This is why those who protest against the page must also find some respect for the views of their opposition. The page was enjoyed by a lot of people, many of whom, through no fault of their own, saw absolutely no harm in what was being posted. These people are not wrong for not understanding why ‘Spotted’s’ content is such an issue for some – what causes offence is something that undeniably differs from person to person.
So, is it right that ‘Spotted’ appears to have been stopped for good? No. Is it right that it should go on as it was, largely unmoderated? No.
There is no totally right answer to this debate, but don’t worry, in a couple of weeks you’ll have all forgotten that it ever existed anyway.
well written article but I think the bottom line is people need to grow thicker skin.
Spotted: a person meeting exactly M’s description on the Vision website, I want to have violent sex with them, but only once they sort their skin/body odour/awkward clothing out.
What the ‘Stopped’ group was calling for was not for the page to be taken down, but for there to be some form of moderation regarding things that were posted.
Nobody should have to grow thicker skin over body shaming or harassment. It should not have to be a issue in the first place.
This article seems to have failed to take into account that the official “Stopped” event does not call for Spotted to be shut down completely, but instead for increased moderation.
To quote the event description: “Not all of the posts on this page are awful, in fact, one just now is trying to help someone locate a lost study buddy (or friend or something). But the sad part is there is way too much body-shaming and silent cat-calling going on. Cat calling is sexual harrassment. Everyone has a right to work in a space where this sort of thing does not happen. Let’s make it so.
I personally do not think the page should be closed down, I’m calling for moderation.”