Franseska Lahdenranta

This blog post was produced as part of the course “Social Media, Ideologies, and Ethics in the United States” at the University of Turku.

In 2017, a group of kids who got accepted to Harvard formed a group chat for sending memes. And then another chat for sending offensive memes. And then one more, for really offensive memes.

This was covered in NPR’s podcast “Hidden Brain” where the host Shankar Vedantam explores topics relating to psychology and human behavior. He interviewed one of the students, “William,” and uncovered his story in a slow, detailed, and dramatized way that seemed to focus on defending the kids’ need to bond over graphic images and racial slurs. The group chats were formed in order for the students to get to know each other and bond. Supposedly, the more offensive the meme, the more popular the sender. Would you give in to peer pressure like that? What would you think were the consequences, if there should be any?

Forbes describes the incident in their article published on June 5th, 2017: “The Holocaust, child abuse, sexual assault, as well as posts that denigrated minority groups, were all fair game in the meme-focused private group chat at one point called ‘Harvard Memes For Horny Bourgeois Teens.’” The shared content led to Harvard deciding to rescind admissions to 10 students, including “William.” After students are accepted to the prestigious university, Harvard still reserves the right to cancel admission if the students’ moral character or honesty is called into question.  Of course, the matter has been debated, with some people defending the students’ right to discuss whatever topic they choose based on the right to free speech and freedom of expression provided by the First Amendment of the U.S Bill of Rights. Others consider expelling students or not admitting them to prestigious schools to be the right thing to do in a case like this.

Looking at this case in the light of ethics on social media, I think an important aspect relating to these problems with memes is acknowledging one’s privilege when handling sensitive topics or matters that are unfamiliar. Students who are admitted to Harvard are privileged and should respect their status, accomplishments, and other people enough to realize what kind of material it is acceptable to share. People need to realize their privilege and take responsibility for the actions that they take, whether in social media, traditional legacy media, or face-to-face interactions with other people. One tool for this is to educate people on media literacy, diversity in media, and on how to take action when offensive or problematic material is shared on social media.

Sources:

“Online Behavior, Real-Life Consequences: The Unfolding of a Social Media Scandal,” NPR, September 9, 2019: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/06/758281834/you-cant-hit-unsend-how-a-social-media-scandal-unfolded-at-harvard?t=1579814938189

“Harvard Rescinds Admissions to 10 Students for Offensive Facebook Memes,” Forbes, June 5, 2017: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rebeccaheilweil1/2017/06/05/harvard-rescinds-10-admissions-offer-for-offensive-facebook-memes-ollowing-commencement-speaker-zuckerberg/#554a44e03dbd