THE MIRROR Independent student newspaper
Week of February 15, 2023
Vol. 49 Iss. 12
Controversial App Fizz Takes Over Fairfield University By Max Limric Managing Editor Fizz is the social media app that has seemed to take over college campuses all across the United States, with Fairfield University being no exception as Fizz stormed into campus on Thursday, Feb. 2. The app prides itself on its anonymity, in which students can post about campus life: the athletics, social scene, academics and everything in between. Fizz has its roots in Stanford University, as an article written in Aug. 2021 from The Stanford Daily details. The beginnings of Fizz stem from Ashton Cofer ’24 and Teddy Solomon ’24, both Stanford University students. The article writes, “the app, which launched at Stanford on July 29, [2021] has been embraced by both students living on campus and those away for the summer.” Launching under the name Buzz, the creators claimed that “[they were] hoping Buzz can be the glue that holds the student body together.” In an article from The Rice Thresher at Rice University in Nov. 2022, author Bonnie Zhao quotes co-founder Teddy Solomon and his description of Fizz’s mission: “to provide people with a
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The application was designed as a way to promote community and aid students in making connections with each other on their campus—both ideas which we fully support here at Fairfield.” - William Johnson, Ph.D., Dean of Students safer, more private and engaging space online.” Fizz then joined Fairfield University in 2023 with this same goal in mind. Fizz’s Instagram account, @fizzfairfield announced the arrival of Fizz through an Instagram post on Feb. 2, posting, “Fizz is live at Fairfield.”
With another post which writes, “Day 1 at Fairfield.” Fizz continued to promote their arrival to campus that Thursday, as a table was set up at the bottom of the Tully stairs and donuts were given out to students who downloaded the app. Additionally, students were promised $15 dollars if they posted Fizz on their Instagram story. First-Year Fiona Kileen posted an Instagram story advertising Fizz and she shared that “I found them on GroupMe and they paid through Venmo the same day.” Recently, @fairfieldbarstool, the Instagram account that claims they are the “Official @barstoolsports affiliate for Fairfield University,” posted Fizz on their Instagram in a paid promotion, in which they claim that “Fizz has completely taken over!” They urge users to “Download Fizz.” However, Fizz is not a revolutionary idea, as social media app Yik-Yak, which was popular last year at the beginning of first semester, has the same principles as Fizz. Like Yik-Yak, Fizz is anonymous as user identities are not disclosed and cannot be viewed. One difference between the apps is that Fizz is also only available to college students, as those who register for Fizz must have a valid student email—an email address ending in “.edu”—whereas Yik Yak did not. Also similar to Yik Yak, Fizz’s privacy policy states that “Fizz is not affiliated with any school or institution.” In her article, Zhoa writes that Solomon claims that anonymity is central to the app’s mission. But if the app requires your email, is Fizz truly anonymous? Fizz’s Security Practices document states that, “We’ve ensured that at no point can Fizz users, moderators or our launch teams see another user’s Personal Identifiable Information (PII). PII on Fizz is stored in a separate secure database, which is only accessible by Fizz administrators.” Although moderators, users and launch teams can never see anyone’s personal information, Fizz administrators are able to. Their privacy policy also states that they “collect information in [their] log files when you use the Services. This includes, among other things, your browser and device type, language, access times, pages viewed, your IP address and the URL you visited before navigating to our websites.”
Kyler Erezuma /The Mirror
The application was created by Stanford University students as a mechanism to “provide students with a more safer, more private and engaging space online.”
An article by TechCrunch written in Nov. 2022 describes a security breach at Fizz that led to users’ identities being revealed. As reported by The Stanford Daily, Fizz’s platform was compromised in Nov. 2021, in which TechCrunch details that “Three Stanford students discovered that anyone could easily query the app’s Google Firestone-hosted database to identify the author of any post on the platform, where all posts are billed as anonymous. They also found users’ personal information like phone numbers and email addresses—plus, the database was editable, which made it possible to
edit posts and give any user moderator status.” It is unknown how many Fairfield students are on Fizz, as The Mirror reached out to Fizz for comment, but they did not respond in time for publication. However, according to a poll posted on Fizz by an anonymous user on Feb. 7, there are at least 2,446 users. The poll states, “Let’s see which [class] year uses this app the most, ” and garnered results that state that 1,401 are first-year students, 662 are sophomores, 243 are juniors and 140 are seniors. With its exponential growth on Fairfield CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Karsonya Wise Whitehead, Ph.D. Enlightens Fairfield Campus on the Power of Pushing Towards Racial Equality By Samantha Russell Assistant News Editor
INSIDE
Karsonya Wise Whitehead, Ph.D. revealed the power of “moving forward while looking backward” as she honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Quick Center for the Arts on Feb. 9, 2023, as part of Fairfield's Annual MLK Convocation. Much of Whitehead’s work looks at race, gender and class unity in America, and surrounds the idea of moving toward improvement while looking back at our origins and ancestry. Throughout her lecture, she urged her audience to simply do more in the name of social justice. “ We a r e s u p p o s e d t o m o v e f o r ward, but pull those who are behind us, and reach towards those who are in front of us,” she declared. Whitehead is an Associate Professor of Communication and African and African American Studies at Loyola University Maryland, the host of the award-winning radio show “Today With Dr. K,” and the recipient of the Vernon Jarrett Medal for Journalistic Excellence. She is also the founding director of The Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice, an organization
dedicated to sharing the narratives of the racially oppressed. In her point of acknowledging one’s beginning before moving towards one’s end, she further relayed a quote from her father–a token of authentic support and hope throughout her life. He said that when you stand before people, you are standing on the shoulders of those who are trailblazers and have dug the path before you. For Whitehead, those trailblazers are people like Harriet Tubman and Mary Church Terrell, which
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That’s the Dr. King that I lean into, not just the Dr. King of ‘I have a dream,’ but the Dr. King who said ‘we have to tear down the system if we want to move forward.” Karsonya Wise Whitehead, MLK Convcocation Speaker
she announced with great pride and a moving aspiration. Whitehead began her talk with a prominent recognition of Dr. King. While she highlighted the significance of his efforts, she also explained the vitality of their relevance today. Whitehead scolds society for quoting Dr. King when it is popular or convenient for them, without properly studying and appreciating his work. In order to achieve this change demanded of us, his work must not only be studied but replicated as well. “That’s the Dr. King that I lean into, not just the Dr. King of ‘I have a dream,’ but the Dr. King who said ‘we have to tear down the system if we want to move forward.’” Fairfield University’s Annual Convocation is part of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. The theme of this year’s celebration was “Social Justice Now,” invoking Dr. King’s concept of acting “now.” Whitehead was awarded the Lafarge Award, which “recognizes an individual who establishes coalitions to advance positive change, initiates difficult dialogues, and embodies activism in support of the long, blessed freedom struggle,” CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
News
Opinion
Vine
Sports
Students Team Up For ‘Youth Equality Forum’.
Does Fizz Encourage Cyberbullying?
Fairfield’s Favorite Rom Coms and Love Songs.
Women’s Swim and Dive Wins MAAC Championship.
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