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The Bradley Scout

Bradley University's Student Newspaper
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The Bradley Scout

Bradley University's Student Newspaper

CollegeShare expands business

One Bradley student has started not one, but two startups aimed toward helping his peers continue learning outside the classroom. Last fall, junior entrepreneurship major

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Tori Moses April 28, 2017

QuickCard ID Security Update

Bradley officials alerted campus that it began updating the Blackboard system yesterday morning in order to eliminate the use of the magnetic stripe on ID

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Tori Moses April 28, 2017

Failing with my friends

My biggest fear has always been failure, but when I graduated high school, I felt absolutely prepared to start the next chapter of my life

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Tori Moses April 21, 2017
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Scout exclusive: Q-and-A with “hilltopmadness” Snapchat account

If you live on the Hilltop, you might be familiar with the Snapchat account called “hilltopmadness.” The student-run account posts photos, sometimes provocative ones, to its story of campus happenings. The Scout interviewed the anonymous student behind the posts (by sending and receiving Snapchat pictures, of course) to over a span of several days.

Q: When did you create “hilltopmadness”?

A: I created this account in early October of 2015. Some friends of mine had expressed an interest in a campus Snapchat story and came to me to see if I could set one up.

Q: Why did your friends specifically ask you to create the account?

A: I mean, I'm tech savvy, but no more so than the next person. I was motivated to find out how to do it, and they knew that.

Q: Did you create your “hilltopmadness” before “bradley.snaps,” the other Snapchat account that posts photos from students, and do you think of “bradley.snaps” as competition?

A: Yes, my account did come before "bradley.snaps." I'm curious as to who runs it and how they upload their stuff, also where they get their snaps from because a lot of their posts don't seem like they're from Bradley students. As far as "competition" goes, when they first started, I was worried because everyone said, "We don't need two, we only need one Bradley account," and I didn't want to draw the short straw. But things have calmed down since then, and I'm glad we're both still around. They do post a lot of the things that I censor.

Q: Speaking of censoring, what are your boundaries with posts?

A: I'm one person running this thing. I try my best to make the call and not potentially offend people, but this account is by a student for students, so it's hard to find a happy medium. A lot of things make me laugh, but offend others. That being said, I try my best to follow a few guidelines: 1. No non-consensual images; 2: No slander; 3. No racial slurs or derogatory remarks.

Q: How many post requests do you receive from students each day?

A: Weekdays: 50. Weekends: 100.

Q: How often does it happen that someone asks you to remove a post?

A: It used to be once each week, now it's once every three weeks, probably.

Q: Out of those 50 or 100 requests, how many do you approve?

A: I approve probably 95 percent of the snaps. Common things I filter are non-consensual images of people with derogatory words or random pictures that make no sense.

Q: What is the most interesting part of running the account?

A: "Give a man a mask, and he'll tell you the truth," or whatever the quote is. People are goofy and weird, and they show it when they submit. It's refreshing to see that.

Q: Is that why you like to stay anonymous?

A: I stay anonymous because I think people will change what they post if there's a face to the account. No matter who I am, it would change the game. Also, it's fun to keep people guessing.

Q: Is there any reason for making an anonymous Snapchat account rather than making an account on Twitter or Facebook?

A: People have done Facebook and Twitter accounts before, and they failed. Plus, Snapchat allows for more frequent and location-based posts. On a college campus, those are pretty key to gaining interest. And again, Snapchat is the most anonymous for not just me, but the users, too.

Q: You said you wondered how “bradley.snaps” obtains its posts because some don’t seem like they are from Bradley students. Do you have a method of verifying this information for your posts?

A: I don't have a surefire method. People will call out someone who doesn't go here and tell me about them, and then I'll check them out. Others I will watch out for and see if they post anything to indicate they go to Bradley or are in the Peoria area. Sometimes, I flat out ask the person if they go to Bradley. "Hilltopmadness" is supposed to be a snapstory for students who happen to go to Bradley. I would say it's for Bradley students, but I try to keep it clear that [the account is] in no way associated with Bradley. It was unfair of me to call out "bradley.snaps," as there is no way for me to know, true. But I also know how easy it is to throw a geofilter on a photo and make it seem like it's from Bradley.

Q: Do you think Bradley students need “hilltopmadness” or a similar Snapchat account?

A: I don't think Bradley needs "hilltopmadness." We could get along fine without a campus story, but it is another way for Bradley to feel like a bigger university by having a campus story. I wouldn't be surprised if "hilltopmadness" loses popularity – that's how these things tend to go – but I'm trying my best to stay relevant and keep students interested. Once I graduate, I'll see about finding someone else to hand the account over to if it's still popular and something the students want to see continue.

Q: During this interview, you said you were “locked out” of your main account, “hilltopmadness,” and we had to switch the interview to a different account you run, “hilltopmadness2.” Why did this happen?

A: Snapchat has been temporarily banning users who post a high volume of snaps to their story. They have no proof of anything wrong, though, so they lock me out of "hilltopmadness" for 24 hours every couple of days. I made "hilltopmadness2" as a last resort because I don't want to have to start from zero followers again. So, if "hilltopmadness" is ever without posts for a while, it's because I'm temporarily locked out.

Q: Do you know what kinds of policies, if any, Snapchat has about post content or posting in general?

A: No comment.

Q: What is it like to hear about your account in conversations around campus?

A: It's funny! I'll be minding my business on campus, and I'll hear someone talk about it or I'll see someone submit a post, and then my phone vibrates. My friends who know who I am tell me about how people in their project groups or clubs will talk about "hilltopmadness" and guess who they think it is. Then there are the people who snap me asking who I am and what year I am, if I'm a boy or girl, etc.

Q: Do you ever respond to those questions and give hints about your identity?

A: Oh yeah. It gets really boring being anonymous.

Q: How many students know your identity?

A: Last I checked, it was about 20, but I can't control who tells whom, so it could have grown since.

Q: Do you plan on putting this job on your résumé?

A: Hahaha hell no. I don't plan on this ever being broadly associated with me.

Q: Is there anything else you would like readers to know?

A: I try my best to make "hilltopmadness" appeal to everyone while not reducing the quality of posts, and I love doing this, so hopefully people continue to enjoy it.

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