How students and locals shape their online identities
Story by Tanner Keylon
Photos by Ella Oakley
Design by Charlotte Miller
Editor’s Note: This article was originally released in Issue 19 of the WKU Talisman print magazine. Click here to read more articles from the Talisman’s semesterly print.
Roughly 98% of current college students use some form of social media, according to the American Association of College & Universities.
Freshman Austin Barton from Charlotte, Tennessee, said he met his TikTok counterpart, freshman Dylan McCarty from Mount Vernon, Indiana, during a summer fraternity rush event.
Barton said he received the nickname Benson Goon during rush week after someone pointed out his resemblance to the popular singer Benson Boone.
After rush concluded, Barton said he went back home for Labor Day and started an Instagram account for his new alter ego.
“My friend that went to Ole Miss had an alter ego account and I thought it was funny and I needed one,” Barton said.
McCarty said the two just started making TikTok’s for fun.
“We were sitting at The Den one night and weíre like, we should make a TikTok,” McCarty said.
Barton said that the feedback they’ve received from this online image has been mostly positive, starting at the first tailgate of the year.
“At the tailgate, everyoneís like, ‘Can we get a picture?'” Barton said. “We probably took like 40 plus pictures.”
McCarty said that there are also a few downsides to being recognized online.
“There’s been a few times where people will try and pester us just for no reason at all,” McCarty said.
Barton said having an online image can cause people to misinterpret who a person really is outside of social media.
“We’re just normal people,” Barton said. “I’m a personable person and social, but at the same time, connecting on a deeper level is something that I really enjoy. Austin and Dylan have connected way more than Benson Goon and Carti.”
Since gaining notoriety on TikTok, Barton said his account has been banned, but he still plans to find ways to keep his alter ego alive. Barton said the reasoning for his account getting banned was TikTok’s impersonation policy, which prohibits accounts from pretending to be someone.
“I made a second TikTok that also got banned, so I am going to have to come up with a more creative username, and hopefully I stop getting banned,” Barton said.
In the meantime, McCarty said the two continue to post TikTok’s together on his account.
Bowling Green entrepreneur Jordan Gibbs said he has been able to create an online community that has garnered over 150,000 members.
Gibbs said he is the founder of the popular Facebook group “Spotted in Bowling Green.” He said that the online community has blown up over recent years and has turned into an avenue for people across Bowling Green to recommend businesses, help members out and more.
“It really just kind of started off as local spottings, crazy scenes,” Gibbs said. “I was actually just kind of going around, taking pictures, and I had seen a truck on a car that had a four-wheeler. I’d seen that at Advanced Autoparts, and I snapped a photo of it and just started doing that.”
Gibbs, who said he started as an entrepreneur when he created the Wyze Wordz podcast, which eventually turned into the Wyze Wordz LLC, said “Spotted in Bowling Green” has been a great avenue for him as a business owner.
For me, you know, as a business owner, it was a way to engage with the community, get leads from people that were moving into town, and be able to connect businesses and whatnot,” Gibbs said.
Gibbs said that running the page has had effects on his real life.
“I’ve made a lot of connections with regular citizens, business owners,” Gibbs said. “I’ve gone into a restaurant and someone’s even recognized me.”
Gibbs said he tries to separate his identity from the online community he created.
When heís not running “Spotted in Bowling Green,” Gibbs said he spends his free time going to the gym, reading and spending time with his family.
“My son plays ball, so I’m at a lot of games,” Gibbs said. “I like hitting theme parks, the lake, car shows, really just anything outdoors with my family.”
Gibbs said he allows the group to show the realness of Bowling Green, but keeps reins on it for the page not to reach a high level of toxicity.
“We do try not to filter it as much as possible,” Gibbs said. “I mean, of course, there is a balance between public opinion and toxic drama.”
Gibbs said that he thinks the authenticity of it is very important.
“There is a lot of negativity on there as well, but let’s be honest, we can’t just take the world and filter out the negative and just show the positive,” Gibbs said. “I think it’s the heartbeat of Bowling Green. I think it’s a place where people can go and feel like they can give their honest opinions.”
Junior Hannah Humble from Bowling Green said she hosts a Christian-based podcast and is heavily involved on campus, being a member of Alpha Delta Pi and she works for WKU’s Extra Point. Humble said she maintains a positive and true image of herself on social media.
Humble said she posts on Instagram, where she has three separate accounts. She said she has a personal Instagram account where she has a following of 4,600, a second account to promote her podcast “Sit Down, Be Humble” and a third where she posts the work she does for WKU’s Extra Point.
“I enjoy posting because I get to say that I have something that I created and am proud of,” Humble said.
Humble said she has dealt with the mental toll that comes with being present on social media.
“I remember in high school I was very outspoken about my faith, and that was a really weird thing to cope with,” Humble said. “I got a lot of negativity back on that, and for a while, it stopped me from completely posting anything that I felt.”
Humble, who described herself as a vocal person, said she has learned to deal with the pushback and continue to post what is true to her.
“The thing that I’ve learned is, I think people respect you more when you actually say your opinion, because it puts you on a pedestal when everyone else can be scared of it,” Humble said.
Humble said she has done the same with the following she’s received through her accounts and podcast.
“People want to see what I’m doing and what I think,” Humble said. “I think at this point, a lot of people are more interested in the humanity of it than trying to fit a certain role.”
Humble said she has had struggles with getting too deep into social media, worrying about likes, views, retaining followers and keeping up with trends.
“I’ve had to take a step back, because it’s so easy to get caught up in how many views you’re getting,” Humble said. “Sometimes you just have to touch grass, and you don’t have to be facing a screen.”
Humble said she has learned to accept that not everyone will agree with what you post of yourself online, but posting her truth is what’s most important.
“Everybody with a platform gets challenged in some way, but at the end of the day, we’re just normal people,” Barton said.