Recruitment Strategies

[Angel Gal]

Am I the only one that is shocked by some of the recruitment TT's out there? The school my freshman is attending has girls dancing in bikinis with over 2 million views and a "work week" tag for their chapter. I think it is targeting frat boys, but is attracting lots of comments from middle aged men from all over wanting to know where they can "find" these girls. It's so creepy! Some of the comments are "I'd like to thank the two horrible fathers that made this video possible", "too busy stripping to pay for college", and "Where is this? I'm going to visit". Not too hard to figure out where these girls are at when they have tagged their house and are dancing on their front lawns. There has already been a girl assaulted on campus this week and I honestly don't know if I want my freshman to go through rush at this school! I was in a house in the 90's-what happened to Standards?

[*winter*]

If you scroll through old recruitment stories here, from 2010 or so…it’s like a different planet. “I’m planning on wearing an orange shirt to day one. I’m a math major” is greeted with “DO NOT MAKE YOURSELF IDENTIFIABLE!” And then the PNM scrubs the post so she can remain anonymous.

I have nieces the age of these young women, and all I can think is how many truly crazy people they’re letting into their personal lives. People have become fixated on celebrities to dangerous extremes…but most celebrities have way more security than the average college student! It makes me nervous.

Maybe I’m just old, or I’ve been working with crime victims for too long?

[Cheerio]

Everybody is a star
Fifteen minutes of fame
No Intelligent Thought Necessary

[Cookiez17]

I went through recruitment before tik tok really got huge. There were a few girls who vlogged their experience (just showing outfits, bid day, and going "Oh I had a full card" without revealing their ranks) but these girls had already started out as internet vloggers and just added their experience.

I know frills went away a while back but I feel like social media is adding it back. While there isn't necessarily a skit round, you see chapter wide tik toks, girls being encouraged to post, and the amazing decorations that are used for each round.

[carnation]

I would report them to their headquarters because the HQs keep going on and on about personal safety and then they allow this to happen under a chapter's name.

[FSUZeta]

Originally Posted by Cookiez17

I went through recruitment before tik tok really got huge. There were a few girls who vlogged their experience (just showing outfits, bid day, and going "Oh I had a full card" without revealing their ranks) but these girls had already started out as internet vloggers and just added their experience.

I know no frills went away a while back but I feel like social media is adding it back. While there isn't necessarily a skit round, you see chapter wide tik toks, girls being encouraged to post, and the amazing decorations that are used for each round.

Great observation. They are skirting around the rules and subbing these videos for full frills parties. I sound like an old codger, but we worked our fannies off during work week. We had no time for "glamorous life" video postings.

[Angel Gal]

Thanks for the feedback. I know I am old, but I guess it concerns me from a couple of different standpoints. First, I feel like some of these girls are pledging for the wrong reasons. It seems like many pnm's are using IG and TT as a launching pad or to further themselves as Influencers. I wondering if this backfires when a new member gets enough followers and drops because she doesn't want to have her social media accounts regulated? Also, I am genuinely concerned for these girls safety, especially after I see all the comments from creepy men!

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by Angel Gal

Thanks for the feedback. I know I am old, but I guess it concerns me from a couple of different standpoints. First, I feel like some of these girls are pledging for the wrong reasons. It seems like many pnm's are using IG and TT as a launching pad or to further themselves as Influencers. I wondering if this backfires when a new member gets enough followers and drops because she doesn't want to have her social media accounts regulated? Also, I am genuinely concerned for these girls safety, especially after I see all the comments from creepy men!

Pretty sure several of the Alabama TikTokkers did just this.

[AnchorAlumna]

And yet schools refuse to publish bid day lists because of "privacy" concerns.

[STEMsister]

Originally Posted by Angel Gal

The school my freshman is attending has girls dancing in bikinis with over 2 million views and a "work week" tag for their chapter.

Question, is there something wrong with actually having a work week tag, or just moreso the content they're USING for their work week tag? I am a bit shocked that work week in general would be publicized, but my sorority as well as other sororities at my school - though not all of them - do post things like "getting ready for recruitment!" and put them on the recruitment highlights for our Instagram. I definitely can't see any group at my school ever posting anything "scandalous" like that, though - we rarely even post/repost pictures of sisters in bikinis, and we've had a lot of sisterhood beach trips, lol.

Regardless, I agree though. I'm not shaming the girls for "showing skin" or anything like that, it's just that even at my very no-frills school I was still taught that things such as recruitment are professional. If you wouldn't wear it an interview you should not wear it to recruitment or things that promote Greek Life.

I also feel like it kinda sends the wrong messages to PNMs, that sorority life is all about partying and dancing and looking hot for "frat boys"...isn't that the stereotype we're all supposed to want to BREAK?

Sorry for rambling, but yes, it does kinda shock me to see that stuff. Though my recruitment experience wasn't anything similar to what you see on tiktok, I am Gen-Z and a pretty avid social media user. I understand things like vlogging recruitment or whatever but even then, when I was watching recruitment vlogs prior to my own, most of them seemed to come after the fact - PNMs would record a little bit each day and then splice them together into one 30 minute video so viewers can see their process from day one to bid day in one go.

[33girl]

It’s not the tag, it’s the dancing in bikinis. I don’t think pictures of work week are anything that needs to be super secret unless someone’s posting in front of a giant poster board detailing the voting procedure.

[Cookiez17]

I do notice that the majority of photos are either taken outside the house or with the decorations that were set out for each round. And PHCs have been showing off the door chants the chapters have put together, but nothing beyond that gets shown.

The day we see social media posts from inside rounds will be the day we start panicking (and hopefully it never happens)

[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by Cookiez17

The day we see social media posts from inside rounds will be the day we start panicking (and hopefully it never happens)

What is there about this that would cause panic?

Seriously, it's ridiculous to think that videos of young PNMs and actives having convos in incredibly noisy environments is of any interest to anyone, let alone cause for alarm.

Talk to me about actives videotaping inside chapter. That would be something I have first-hand experience with; es, it was handled swiftly and appropriately. Videotaping ritual - UGH - and a whole different circumstance, I'm sure most would agree. But videotaping recruitment events? Yawn. IMO this is a colossal waste of energy. Further, wouldn't it help to improve diversity/equity/inclusion perceptions to show women of all shapes/sizes/colors etc talking with/to other women?

[Cookiez17]

Originally Posted by AZTheta

What is there about this that would cause panic?

Seriously, it's ridiculous to think that videos of young PNMs and actives having convos in incredibly noisy environments is of any interest to anyone, let alone cause for alarm.

Talk to me about actives videotaping inside chapter. That would be something I have first-hand experience with; es, it was handled swiftly and appropriately. Videotaping ritual - UGH - and a whole different circumstance, I'm sure most would agree. But videotaping recruitment events? Yawn. IMO this is a colossal waste of energy. Further, wouldn't it help to improve diversity/equity/inclusion perceptions to show women of all shapes/sizes/colors etc talking with/to other women?

I don't even want to imagine someone taping ritual or chapter.

[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by Cookiez17

I don't even want to imagine someone taping ritual or chapter.

I don’t confabulate. Nothing to imagine, it happened. FWIW, no need to waste bandwidth QFPing as I don’t delete my posts. Save yourself some energy in the future, cookie.

AGAIN, IMO taping recruitment rounds is No Big Deal. I would even venture to say that it might help in the long run. Those of us who’ve been around and have had decades of experience - I would welcome your engagement on this topic. Insight from a place of knowing, not speculating and baseless opinion. Use the technology for good. Beat them at their own game (what a concept, huh?). Anyway, back to the regular program.