“Gossip Girl” has left the lavish penthouses of New York’s Upper East Side to wreak havoc on our very own West Campus.
On April 13, a number of people noticed that they were being followed on twitter by a user with the handle @WestGG.
This is how they first got wind of Wits’ own gossip girl.She then became active the very next day, sending out tweets containing very personal information about the people she followed.
“She insinuated that I was dating one of my close friends, who was actually in another relationship at the time. It was very childish,” said Yandani Bashman, 4th year LLB.
“GG also taunted an individual about their sexual orientation which is extremely sensitive stuff, so in that regard it can get really hurtful,” said a person who did not want to be named.
Tweeters mobilised to report the account as spam so gossip girl could be suspended, to which the account replied, “you can report me as spam if you wish, but you know I’ll keep coming back.”
Twitter policy does not allow for users to carry abusive content in their tweets. Violating this rule could lead to the suspension of an account.
After being suspended once, gossip girl created a new account under the name @westcampusgg. This account didn’t last long either but was around long enough to cause a stir in the rumour mill.Tweeters again responded by marking her tweets as spam. But all the spam reports couldn’t keep her down as she started a new account for a third time on April 16.
“I felt that it was extremely juvenile but it had the potential to ruin people’s relationships and caused a deep level of distrust within circles of friends,” said one of the account’s most tweeted victims, Livhuwani Makungo, 3rd year BCom Marketing.
“She/he seemed to focus her/his (tweets) on my previous relationship claiming that I was unfaithful and slanderous as if it was a form of retribution. All allegations made against me were false,” said Makungo.
Gossip girl had a lot to say about a past relationship that Makungo had been in. In her tweets she tagged his previous girlfriend and the girls she claims he cheated with.“For the most part I laughed and brushed it off but I did worry about how it affected those who were implicated,” Makungo said.
“Her tweets were out of hand and unnecessary. Whoever is behind the account must just come forward and explain themselves,” said Bashman. He added that there was speculation about who might be behind the account but he believes that there are a number of people responsible for the tweeting.
Another person, who did not want to be named, said they believed the person behind the account must be someone they all know on a very personal level, especially because of the level of information the West Campus gossip girl had access to.
