The detrimental effects of USC Hook-Ups

Of course when I came across the USC Hook-Ups Facebook page this evening on my Facebook, I eagerly perused the posts with my roommate and laughed over some of the better-worded sexploits detailed on the page.

However, as the evening progressed and more and more updates began to pop up, accompanied by an influx of “likes,” I started to get a bit more disturbed. Rather than fulfill its stated purpose of “help[ing] the fellow Trojan reconnect with that hot piece of ass, [etc.],” the posts have instead took a turn for the worse by calling numerous people out on their failures in bed. As one post reads, “You went down on me last week and it was the worst thing ever. Don’t ever think about calling me again.” The recipients of the post are highlighted through highly recognizable personable traits.

This is so heartbreaking to me. Especially compared to my high school promiscuity levels, I’ve been a nun here at USC, so I’m not too concerned about my own reputation, but I’m perturbed as I watch my own great, altruistic community crumble before my eyes.

As a transfer student, one aspect of USC that stood out to me as the largest positive and unique element was the “Trojan Family,” This concept is more cheesy than EVK pizza — or that analogy — but seriously, it exists. I attended another university, one that was consistently ranked in the top three in student satisfaction in the United Kingdom, but I can tell you that this family spirit is unique in a college and something to be treasured.

It’s the spirit of supporting one another, of helping out in simple ways and it’s the reason that USC has been lauded so much for helping out our gritty surrounding community. And I sincerely believe it’s being undermined by a page that seems to exist to publicly humiliate other members of our Cardinal and Gold community.

It’s interesting to juxtapose this page with the far less nefarious “USC Compliments” Facebook page, in which people can offer anonymous compliments to those they love or even strangers. How paradoxical that these two pages on the same social networking site can exist, and that one can cause so many positive vibes while the other is just ratchet. Maybe both of these types of pages are national or worldwide trends — I’m not sure — but I once believed that we could distinguish between the positive and negative at USC and choose correctly between the two. Obviously, I was wrong.

There will always be nasty people in the world who take some satisfaction in the mortification of others, but I sincerely wish I hadn’t seen so clearly how many there are and how cruel they are at USC. I’ve felt like I was looking at the world through rose-colored glasses during my semester and a quarter here, but apparently that was a fantasy that had to end. To all of those who have been mentioned on the page, I hope that you have more stalwart self-esteem than I would in your position. Take comfort that “haters gonna hate,” as they say. I guess I myself can look at the bright side and say thanks, USC Hook-Ups: avoiding public degradation is a good incentive to keep my panties on.

Alyson Tsui

Sophomore, international relations