@TUProblems

The Temple News takes a look at the various Cherry-and-White-themed social media sites, which help students connect, share troubles and compare experiences.

The Temple community has its fair share of distinguishing qualities – including the overly social squirrels roaming around Main Campus, the insomniacs who have made the TECH Center their home-away-from-home and the police zipping around on T3s doing their best to lower the number of TUAlerts being sent out to students.

Social networking websites including Tumblr and Twitter have latched onto the university’s quirks to highlight what sets Main Campus apart from other schools who hold online presences.

@TUProblems

@TUProblems is a Twitter account and hashtag that students use to vent their Temple-related frustrations. Issues that have used the tag include petty complaints of people not wearing deodorant to class, to serious concerns regarding shootings in the area surrounding Main Campus.

“Personally I know that if something happens like you have an issue with [Student Health Services] or a squirrel tries to bite your finger off while you’re throwing away a slice of pizza…it would be funny to have all of them collected in one place so you know people have the same problem,” sophomore advertising major Bridget Reed said.

Freshman architecture major Katherine McGonigle said she knows of other university-related Twitter accounts, including Rutgers University that has @RUScrewed.

@TUProblems is followed by 2,284 users, surpassing @RUScrewd, which has 347 followers.

“My biggest ‘TUProblem’ is when you call offices and they’re always closed and then they never call you back,” McGonigle said.

“A big thing, especially if you do live in a dorm, is the disrespect, and another would be dealing with the cops and how they approach things,” Reed said. “Sometimes they brush off big things and then make a big deal about really little things, I’ve experienced that personally and through friends.”

Colin Saltry Doing Things
(colinsaltrydoingthings.tumblr.com)

A collection of photos of Temple Student Government Student Body President Colin Saltry have been posted on “Colin Saltry Doing Things,” a Tumblr account first pitched by fellow TSG member Alex Martin.

“When [Martin] pitched the idea he was like ‘At the last three events we had I got a lot of funny pictures of you and what normally would be normal people doing things, it just looked fun when you were doing them,’” Saltry said.

Although the blog currently has nine posts, Saltry said he still gets plenty of attention from it, even from his friends from his hometown of Scranton, Pa.

“It became so popular at one point my friends from Scranton came down for a Halloween party and came as the many faces of Colin Saltry,” Saltry said.

Saltry said that while he’s a fan of the website there’s one photo he isn’t so fond of: “There’s one where I’m sitting in a chair and I have shorts on…public officials should never be seen in shorts, and I’m [tipping the chair forward].”

TECH Temptations
(cuteboysatthetechcenter.tumblr.com)

Tech Temptations features pictures of male students working in the TECH Center whom the Tumblr’s anonymous creator considers attractive.

Some photos are posed but most are candid, and a lot of the males don’t know they’re featured on the website until they are informed by their friends.

“A bunch of people, as the site got bigger, started posting [the link] on my Facebook wall,” Nick Noyes, a sophomore secondary English education major said when he first found out he was featured on the site. “At first I was creeped out, but then I found it kind of flattering, in a sort of demented way.”

“I think it’s funny now, there’s no harm in it,” Noyes added. “If you read through the rest of the blog it’s all sort of comedic.”

“If you look through the pictures on the website, it’s such a wide range of people who are considered attractive,” Reed said. “The funniness overshadows [the creepiness].”

After seeing all three of the Temple-related websites, Saltry said these are things that showcase Temple’s spirit.

“I think we have a vibrant student body and I think we’re a lot more fun than every other school in Pennsylvania and this is why we need state funding because the type of people that come to Temple are way more fun,” Saltry said.

Luis Fernando Rodriguez can be reached at luis.rodriguez@temple.edu.