Leah HennigImagine you are a student who, after back-to-back classes and a few minutes of walking around campus, has finally found a place to sit down and eat lunch. You have barely taken your first bite when a social media “influencer” begins dancing for a TikTok, with you sitting directly in their camera’s line of sight. Unfortunately, this scenario has become an increasingly familiar reality on campus.
While traditional forms of informative content creation continue to exist around campus, there has been a rise in “influencer-style” content creation. While the concept itself is not inherently problematic, some of this content has come at the cost of other students’ privacy and comfort in shared campus spaces.
I experienced this firsthand a year ago, when a campus influencer approached me to film what I assumed would be a club promotional video. Instead, they climbed onto a nearby platform and began dancing while I stood there, phone in hand, recording. Looking around, I noticed other students appearing equally caught off guard, unsure what to make of the situation.
The University of Alberta has its own set of policies for third-party filming on campus. This issue, however, goes beyond the U of A’s code of conduct. The widespread discussion surrounding it, both on campus and online, is not simply a matter of policy compliance. Rather, it comes down to a basic moral code and the expectation that those who use university spaces to create content, and potentially profit from them, should be respectful of the people who share those spaces.
The policy for third-party filming on campus requires creators to submit filming requests and get approval before filming begins and to have signage to notify people in the area. Over the years, however, several clubs and student groups have filmed informative and promotional content on campus. The difference lies in how creators produce this content: clubs and student groups generally plan their filming, whereas influencers may capture unsuspecting students in the background as they go about their day. Therefore, for creators who are students themselves and benefit from their fellow students’ participation and shared campus spaces to generate content, being respectful of those around them should be common sense.
One important quality of a content creator is understanding their audience and being willing to acknowledge valid criticism. In one of his videos, a campus creator acknowledged seeing comments circulating on social media criticizing him and his content. Rather than addressing the criticism constructively, he responded with insulting remarks directed at those criticizing him. While creators can disagree with criticism, responding with personal insults does little to alleviate those negative opinions or create an opportunity for improvement. For those who create content around the university community, respecting that community should extend beyond the camera.
The issue at hand is not the location, the type of content, or the creators themselves. Rather, it comes down to respecting your audience, fellow students, and shared spaces. The university’s filming policies primarily address professional videography and do not account for social media content creation. As this type of content becomes more prevalent on campus, the university should consider updating its policies to address these situations and help prevent similar incidents in the future. In the meantime, creators can take simple steps, such as choosing an empty space or, at the very least, blurring people in the background, to be more considerate of those around them.
