When people can hide their names or faces behind a veil of anonymity, kindness and compassion often disappears. This anonymity seems to unlock an often hidden side of human nature, where common courtesy gives way to cruelty. This dynamic is especially prevalent in the campus-wide app, Fizz, where lack of accountability has sparked troubling behavior among users.
Fizz is an anonymous social media app created by two Stanford University students. Introduced to Texas Woman’s University in the Spring 2024 semester, the app continues to grow in popularity. By creating an account with your university email, you are put into a private discussion and news feed with all other users that have the same ‘@twu.edu’ email address. The app offers a variety of features, such as direct messaging, polls and image uploads. There is also a like/dislike feature referred to as up-voting/down-voting.
Students are encouraged to use the app to promote on-campus events, create and post relatable memes, and interact with others. This online environment is meant to allow students to feel closer to one another and more in touch with the student body and their fellow Pioneers. In A Quick Guide to Fizz Moderation, the Head of Trust & Safety, Zak Sharif, claims “Our mission at Fizz is to create safe, authentic communities built by students, for students and we achieve this through our moderation policies.”
While the main intention of Fizz is to provide an online forum for the campus, beneath the surface lurks much darker implications with concerns that the app’s formatting opens doors to something much more devious. What started as an app that provides interesting and relatable content made by TWU students, has quickly morphed into a platform that can be used as a way to make students insecure and uncomfortable, with little to no consequences. There are posts that obsessively talk about the attractiveness of certain students, with some non-consensually posting pictures of the person they’re talking about. Some users receive messages asking for sexual favors, and it’s not rare to see blatantly racist or sexist posts in the feed.
Fizz recruits student moderators specific to every college that uses the app who ensure everyone follows strict Community Guidelines. However, users experience no accountability for their actions as it seems moderators rarely use their “powers, which include the ability to remove content directly from the feed and to vote on whether content reported by users should be removed from the feed.” A multitude of posts which clearly violate certain aspects of the guidelines, such as no bullying, hate speech or posting of student identifiable information, are still up on the forum. Students could easily be identified by the TWU email used to sign up, but there is yet to be any justice for the vile things posted on Fizz. These posts continue to go uninvestigated and without consequence. If the comments said on Fizz were said to someone in real life, there would be extreme repercussions due to the student code of conduct. So, why are we as a community allowing genuine cyberbullying and harassment?
Inside Higher Ed’s 2024 Student Voice, in partnership with Generation Lab, conducted a survey in May of 2024 of 5,025 undergraduates, finding that two out of five students say their mental health is impacting their ability to focus, learn and perform academically. One in 10 students rate their mental health as “poor.” Putting this app into the hands of thousands of struggling college students and establishing the idea that everyone on campus is always watching and judging, is likely to only worsen the mental health of the student body.
While TWU students hold agency in deciding if they want to use Fizz, all students should think critically about if the app is beneficial to them. Has there been a genuinely positive impact from this app, or has it contributed to more negative and hateful behavior? Ultimately, each student should weigh the consequences of the app carefully and consider if Fizz truly aligns with their values.
Bella Castillo can be reached via email at icastillo4@twu.edu
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