In our generation, things are constantly being thrown in and out of popularity. First, it was Trivia Crack and now it is Swipe.

Swipe is a social media app where photographers are anonymous and pictures are created in the spur of a moment. Users swipe right to like the picture or left to dislike the picture, and never see it again.

“Swipe took the world by storm. It spread so easily for everyone with iPhones, and it became an instant hit. Since it is anonymous, people who wouldn’t normally post things on social media, are posting things. They are feeling more comfortable because people don’t know it is them,” senior Charlie Huff said.

While scrolling through Swipe, it is not uncommon to see goofy pictures of friends and funny videos. All of the posts seen are posted by someone in your contact list with the app.

“I just think it is funny because it is completely anonymous. You never really know who says what. I like to swipe pictures of all my friends and post them with funny captions. It is fun messing with my friends, even though they know when I post pictures of them. The app just has a joking tone to it,” junior Jack O’Connor said.

Although Swipe can be used to share interests or have a laugh with friends, it can also be used for people to create gossip. People can get away with insulting or humiliating someone without ever being identified.

According to the Megan Meier Foundation 71.9% of Missouri students reported being cyber-bullied once or twice within the school year, but 70.6% of students said they had seen bullying in their schools.

“I actually deleted my Swipe app because I think it is really stupid. It got to the point where every picture was either a black screen with a rumor about someone, or it was of people’s faces and it just was not fun anymore. Peoples caption’s that they posted with the picture could also get really mean,” senior Stephanie Quoss said.

“I think we should always ask for a student’s permission before sending their photo or even taking their picture,” sophomore Assistant Principal Beth Middendorf said. “I don’t know if cyberbullying will ever go away, but I hope that we get better with it. I know that it is a problem, and I’m hoping that with some education we will put an end to cyberbullying here.”