NUIG Shifting page

iwishihadaname

Taken from the Irish Examiner

The pages, which appear to have been set up by students, show fellow students "shifting", a word often used for kissing, and carrying out various acts of foreplay. The sites urge students to upload, tag and identify the people carrying out the acts.

Pages have been created for colleges including Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, NUI Maynooth, UCD, University of Limerick, UCC and Sligo IT.

The NUI Galway Shifting Page, which has almost 6,000 fans, has written in its description: "Shifting Galore — Please post your shifting pics!! We want to identify as many people as possible in the posted photos... so if you recognise people then comment or tag!!" The homepage picture shows a girl with her hand in the jeans of a male who is kissing her.

NUI Galway vice president and welfare officer Emma Conway said the pages are cause for concern.

"I’d be concerned about people who would get upset seeing someone they’re really into on the page kissing someone else and that would cause undue stress to someone. It’s pictures of people kissing so that’s not necessarily worrying, what might be worrying for some people is that they find someone that they’re going out with kissing someone else on it."

She said students must be careful of what is uploaded on social networking sites, particularly when it comes to applying for jobs: "They should be cautious of what’s put up on social media because anyone would be able to spot them and I mean anyone."

She said that students who are offended by images posted of them should report to Facebook. "I’m sure it would be worrying for them [students] caught tagged in a shifting picture on Facebook but it’s up to them to de-tag themselves from it and if the picture is up on Facebook they can report it or they can give out to the friend who put it up in the first place."

Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/kfojeykfkfsn/rss2/#ixzz1M3TL7xLd

What does everyone think about it? Personally I wouldn't think the main concern of the pages to be "about people who would get upset seeing someone they’re really into on the page kissing someone" as Emma Conway put it.

But I'm friends with a very shy girl who's picture was put up by another girl who uploaded it deliberately to upset her. Emma Conway says it's

up to them to de-tag themselves from it and if the picture is up on Facebook they can report it or they can give out to the friend who put it up in the first place.

Well, she has detagged herself but her name is still on the picture, and reported it but it hasn't been taken down.

These pages are being used as a tool for bullying.

Another aspect that Emma correctly pointed out is that employers do check up on these kind of things before hiring someone. The page responded by saying

It is already well known that students should be careful regards what is uploaded of them online- we have been told on numerous occasions that employers do check social networking- but what would be worse- them seeing you engaging in a moment of romance or seeing you legless drunk on a night out?

That may be their view, but employers will think twice about hiring you when they see you on these pages dropping the paw on a night out. And in many of these pictures students are legless drunk. There are people that are concerned by this and therefore put their profile's on private settings. But many of these students pictures are being put up on a public page for all to see.

The page criticizes the Examiner's description of the shift:

My first point that I would like to raise with you is your clear misinterpretation of the word shifting. I don’t know where you hail from Claire but I do not know where in Ireland that foreplay is included in a shift?

Their definition may be true but it doesn't stop people uploading pictures of foreplay or indeed one of them being used as the profile picture.

The page also says that students will

continue to upload ‘shifting’ photos whether it is on a dedicated page or not

. Also true, but these pictures on people's individual pages and are usually subjected to privacy settings so that the general facebook population do not have access to it. Even if a person's page is on a public setting the pictures are not subject to the same volume of audience that these pages are attracting.

Personally, when I first saw the page I thought it was funny and harmless. And it is when the people in the pictures also think it's a bit of craic and don't mind it being put up. But there is another side to it too, which could be fixed if the admins of the page censored their pictures a bit more, and took down the pictures of those who don't want to be there.

reap-a-rat

I don't agree with bullying, its wrong. Some pictures should be removed. But the one thing I want to say is this (and I'm not arguing with the OP or any of their points, I'm just getting it out there!) If people have a problem with pics being up there, how come they don't have a problem shiftin the face off someone in a crowded nightclub for all to see? I know that you're not going to have 6,000 people looking (I think that's how many fans our page has) but still, if you don't want people to see you doing something, don't do it in the public eye!

Ficheall

reap-a-rat wrote: »

but still, if you don't want people to see you doing something, don't do it in the public eye!

Hopefully someone will set up a page with pictures of people vomiting and pissing in the streets then.

wallpaper12

The employer thing is a load of rubbish. If you are not tagged in a picture a potential employer is not going to go on this page and look through every single photo with the chance they might come across a picture of you?

If people dont like the picture then why dont they message the person that put it up to take it down? Reporting it is not going to do any good unless there is something violating facebooks terms on it

JohnCleary

I don't do anything in public that I wouldn't like to be on the internet, simple as.

If i'm shiftin' the face off some young wan in a public area/nightclub/bar/party, I couldn't give a toss if the world sees it

The GF wouldn't be too happy about it though :pac:

cson

Your mate clearly wasn't too shy that night

HeisenbergBB

ahahahaha!

iwishihadaname

cson wrote: »

Your mate clearly wasn't too shy that night

I was waiting for someone to say that! Even the shy ones get the shift the odd time!:rolleyes:

Still bad form of that girl putting up the picture when she knew how she would feel about it. And she wasn't lobbing the gob in the middle of the dancefloor, which others seem to think makes it ok to take pervy pics, it was a sneaky shift in her own house.

cson

Really? Its pretty harmless tbh.

She doesn't want it up, fair enough she's asked facebook to take it down which they probably will.

It's a nothing story, the Examiner just filling copy.

Ficheall

iwishihadaname wrote: »

it was a sneaky shift in her own house.

Definite violation of privacy then, surely?
In public one's image is "public domain", so to speak, but not in the privacy of one's own home, methinks.
Though why on earth kids these days feel the need to photograph everything they do and stick it up on facewank is beyond me anyway.

Foreverdelayed

It's only a fad. It will die out soon enough.

Kinky Slinky

Must of been a Slow news day

She said students must be careful of what is uploaded on social networking sites, particularly when it comes to applying for jobs: "They should be cautious of what’s put up on social media because anyone would be able to spot them and I mean anyone."

As soon as you un-tag a picture it's basically impossible to be identified, I can't realistically see employers going to the NUI Galway Shifting Page and looking through pictures to see if you're on the site. It's just one of these sensationalised news story that gets blown out of proportion. In every photo posted on the site its obviously a friend of the person in the photo who posted it, it's just a bit of craic nothing more nothing less. I think some people have to come out of their cave and realise we are in the 21st century

iwishihadaname

Foreverdelayed wrote: »

It's only a fad. It will die out soon enough.

Yeah like it or hate it, it'll probably run out of steam quickly enough. Kind of reminds me of the PWC picture scandal not so long ago.

.E_C_K_S.

Anyone on facebook check out UCD's latest picture, it is beyond ridiculous!!

spiritcrusher

The only thing I don't really like is when people get genuinely upset by others posting stuff about them they didn't want there. Although at the same time it's almost impossible make out who anyone is most pictures I've seen so it's still not the end of the world.

As for any outrage about the antics actually in the photos :rolleyes:
I mean, what to people think goes on in nightclubs?

Foreverdelayed

WALSHY16291 wrote: »

Anyone on facebook check out UCD's latest picture, it is beyond ridiculous!!

Yea that's just really bad taste to be quite honest. It's gone from shifting to riding...

wallpaper12

debate on now on i102104

TheCosmicFrog

The biggest problem is being unable to tag yourself from comments (or so I hear). You can remove photo tags, but as soon as you do, people just put up a "John Smith" tag.

Dull and Boring

Have those facebook pages not been removed now?

wallpaper12

facebook deleted it

Dull and Boring

I wish I'd had a better look at them now when they were still up:P