I suppose I should start this by coming out and saying it: I am a Sidechat karma farmer. I post inauthentically because I know it will get upvotes. You may know some of my work: “Guys it’s finally spring!!!!!” and “Watching everyone frolic on Mudd field in the sun is literally so human.” These sentences would never leave my lips in real life.  It all started with a $15 notebook. I saw it in the bookstore while I was picking up textbooks for my first-ever semester at WashU. I thought to myself, “That must be a really good notebook […]

Everyone in the U.S. should pay close attention to the current legal proceedings — they can show us the harm of social media addiction and the platforms’ effects on political polarization, body image, and self-worth. 

While our modern slang may pass for nothing more than humor, there seems to be something hidden beneath the jokes.

Last summer, I watched videos like these from my dorm room in Beijing in frustration. Somehow, other Americans without Chinese backgrounds had discovered what I had thought was my secret to gatekeep: China is awesome. 

Reality TV indiscriminately and routinely proves to be harmful to viewers, contestants, and, worst of all, children. If you simultaneously criticize porn for all its flaws and habitually engorge the mental rot that is reality TV, you are a hypocrite.

When we don’t consume fiction for fun, we forget how to create meaningful narratives in our lives, and narratives teach us how to build connections and community. Today, we are missing stories.

While “clanker” spread through algorithms, it has also slipped into the real world, expectedly, among younger circles. People use the term in conversations in ways that mirror online comments, carrying the same undertone of bigotry and appearing only in contexts of bigotry.

Brontë included characters and dynamics that challenged Victorian norms and were typically silenced, focusing on a young woman and a non-white social outcast. The book is not a love story; it is a testament to some of the unheard voices of her time. Stripping away the layers of social commentary is disrespectful to her original message and the people it represented.

What once was a universal form of connection has been replaced by an ideology of indifference. When did “not caring” stop meaning reckless inhibition and start meaning total disengagement? Dancing used to be synonymous with freedom. It was an inclusive act with cultural roots tied to engaging with the community. Dancing was for everybody.

The posts, even if not directly targeting us, feed our insecurities and make us hyperaware of how we’re perceived because we know we might be posted if we slip up or stand out in the wrong way. Instead of connecting, it makes us perform: who’s the funniest, who’s the wittiest, and who’s the boldest at throwing shade?