Courtney Lippert and Dani Roberts
Comm 492- 02
Letting Total Frat Move Control Your Perceptions. #TFM
Introduction
Fraternities and sororities have become such a hot topic in today’s media world. The
stories of damage, ridicule, and even death thanks to hazing and drinking are all over the news.
Yet that isn’t the only thing affecting the reputations of Greek organizations. Total Frat Move
and related websites are out there promoting the same ideologies that are getting Greek
organizations in trouble. As hilarious as the tweets and videos might be, some of them take it a
bit too far. Greek life leaders around the country are trying to abolish this idea promoted by the
news media and social media sites, but as time progresses and reliability on technology grows so
does the presence of Total Frat Move and news media.
From the Colonies to the Modern Age
The original Greek letter organization was founded in Williamsburg, Virginia on
December 5, 1776. What was once known as the Flat Hat Club became Phi Beta Kappa, which
still thrives today as the highest honorary society in undergraduate institutions. Since then Greek
life has spread over the nation to over 800 campuses with over 9 million total members of
fraternities and sororities (New Jersey Institute of Technology, website). Like most growing
establishments Greek life has its issues with illicit and inappropriate actions that caused it to gain
a bad reputation. Hazing is one of the prominent stereotypes non-Greeks have of Greek Life.
It’s very common for news stories about hazing to hit the web/air and progress the
stereotype of the organizations even more. Koman (2013) wrote an editorial based on her
experiences in her own sorority and the hazing she endured (website). This article sparked
controversy in the Greek community because it focused on how the hazing she endured was
“worth it” and built her up. In her editorial she described the emotional and physical trauma she
endured during her pledge process in the organization. This article sparked controversy in the
community of student affairs, especially Greek life. Her editorial piece essentially idolized the
very process the community is trying to abolish. However, as much as staff members of
fraternities and sororities try to negate the image by hosting programs and workshops, it always
seems to come around again.
Segal reported that the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter at Florida International University was
suspended for posting inappropriate and suspicious posts about drug use, misogyny, and cheating
on Facebook (2013). The brothers posted notices on Facebook about “Pike Pharmacy”, which
essentially was a group of brothers that possessed “study drugs” (Adderall and Vyvanse) and
illegal drugs for students to buy and to use to benefit their grades or use recreationally (Segal,
2013). Other posts included hazing of the new members and inappropriate pictures of women.
Hazing and drugs tend to be the most common reasons for fraternities and sororities when they
get in trouble. Even Longwood University has had its fair share of suspended and closed
chapters.
NBC 12’s reporter Andy Jenks (2011) covered a story at Longwood University
concerning the 17 students arrested for the confirmed hazing charges placed against the Tau
Kappa Epsilon chapter at the university. Police found paddles and branding materials allegedly
used against the new members of the organization. This became big news in the Longwood
community, especially friends of the chapter. In the Spring of 2009, Zeta Tau Alpha National
Fraternity made the decision to close the doors of the Alpha Chapter of their organization after
being notified of accounts of hazing and underage drinking (Geller, 2009). According to Geller,
this was their second chance to pick up broken pieces and rebuild as a reputable values based
organization, however that chance was lost after a phone call was made to the hazing hotline
(2009). Fortunately, the Alpha Chapter was brought back to Longwood’s campus after being
closed for four years.
Incidents over the years have caused Greek letter organizations to make headlines across
the nation for other reasons other than the hazing and drinking. Former Delta Gamma sister at
the University of Maryland, Rebecca Martinson, made headlines April 2013 when a private
defamatory e-mail was leaked to Total Frat Move and then to the national news. The e-mail
created a big uproar due to the language, tone, and nature of the e-mail. Shortly after the
incident Martinson de-affiliated from Delta Gamma, though it’s not clear if she voluntarily deaffiliated or if Delta Gamma national headquarters forced her to (Barrabi, 2013). Fraternities and
sororities are portrayed as exclusive groups in the media, which result in preemptive perceptions
of these groups to infiltrate the minds of non-members.
The University of Alabama faced difficulties during 2013 formal fall recruitment. All
eighteen Panhellenic sororities on Alabama’s campus dropped two African American women
(Scherker, 2013). Alabama’s student newspaper, the Crimson White, exposed the story after the
incident. First information concerning the events at the university were leaked through Total
Frat Move’s website. This sparked giant controversy nationwide, especially because of the
school’s history with racial inequality. The first group of people that had access to this
information were all TFM followers who read the story. The consequences of this included
national organizations getting involved, for example Pi Beta Phi’s national office. The two
women were eventually given bids, but not until after the story made headlines. The last time a
black female was given a bid at the university from a panhellenic organization was in 2008 by
the sisters of Gamma Phi Beta sorority.
Total Frat Move is one of the main sources of Greek information out there for collegeaged students. They’re the image that people perceive of fraternities and sororities because of
their first-hand information. Although their might be a bias or inappropriate reporting, TFM and
TSM are social media sources people regularly visit. Today’s society and culture is very
digitally integrated resulting in a desire to obtain information that interests their niche and in a
timely manner.
Communication phenomenon
The emergence of social media websites such as Total Frat Move/Total Sorority Move
and Greek Rank have impacted the way that students perceive fraternity and sorority life as a
whole. Total Frat Move is an entertainment brand that encompasses a New York Times
bestselling book and the title of the number one college comedy website with a movie currently
in production. Total Frat Move states that they are a satirically based online community. Greek
Rank is a website that strives to be the number 1 source of information about fraternities and
sororities for college campuses nationwide. Greek Rank gives members the opportunity to rank
based on seven criterions: appearance, popularity/dominance, campus/community involvement,
classiness, fun/social life, and brotherhood/sisterhood. They are then separated into three
different tiers. A tier is the rank of a sorority or fraternity on campus, which includes top tier,
middle tier, and bottom tier.
Zimmerman (2012) found that social media was the second most popular response from
students when examining where they get their knowledge of fraternities and sororities. Whereas
mass media sources, such as television and film, were the primary sources students gained their
knowledge of Greek organizations.
The purpose of our study is to discover the perceptions Greek and non-Greek college
students have of fraternities and sororities based on social media sites such as Total Frat Move,
Total Sorority Move and Greek Rank.
Social Judgment Theory
Griffin (2008) states that the social judgment theory is the perception and evaluation of
an idea by comparing it with current attitudes. There is a link between ego-involvement and
perception that drives how important a particular issue is in our life. Sherif states that our
anchored position relates to our current attitudes towards something and is susceptible to change
with different messages and judgments.
There are three latitudes associated with the social judgment theory. Acceptance is the
range of ideas that a person sees as reasonable or worthy of consideration. Rejection is the range
of ideas that a person sees as unreasonable or objectionable. Non-commitment refers to the
range of ideas that a person sees as neither acceptable nor objectionable.
The importance of an issue is often demonstrated by membership in a group with a
known stand, otherwise known as ego-involvement. When comparing this to perceptions of
Greek life, this relates to how the members of fraternities and sororities will see Total Frat Move
and Greek Rank affecting how they see their organizations.
Sherif hypothesized a contrast effect, an error in perception when people judge messages
that fall within their latitudes of rejection as further from their belief than they actually are
(Griffin, 2008). If members of fraternities and sororities internalized messages from TFM and
Greek rank they would believe that it is not what applies to them at all. Contrast is defined as a
perceptual distortion that leads to a polarization of ideas. Whereas assimilation is defined as a
perceptual error where people judge the messages that fall within their latitudes of acceptance as
less discrepant than they are in actuality. Members of fraternities and sororities would take the
messages from TFM and Greek rank and start judging that message as something similar to what
they represent.
The first stage of attitude change is judging how far or close a message we’ve received is
from our anchored position. Social judgment theory states that once a message is received and
judged in accordance with our latitudes, we will adjust our attitude to accommodate this new
message. However, when the message is outside our latitudes a boomerang effect will occur. A
boomerang effect is an attitude change in the direction opposite of what the message intended.
Literature Review
Relationship Between Greeks and non-Greeks
Makstaller, Taylor, and Warber (2011) conducted surveys on undergraduate students and
found that individuals are typically intimidated when members of Greek organizations are
grouped together and represented. They are too cautious and unwilling to approach and
communicate with those group members, because of initial fears of that group’s assumption of
them. Their perception as an exclusive group segregates them from the rest of the student body.
Zimmerman (2012) surveyed students at his university and found that many students have
preemptive perceptions of Greek Life and automatically associate those messages with Greeks.
So non-Greek students communicate with Greek students based on what they assume. This
could ultimately lead to miscommunication between the two groups and result in strife or
unwanted confrontation.
Ideologies and Perceptions of Greeks
Zimmerman (2012) found that most individuals get their information concerning Greek
life from what is portrayed in mass media sources and social media second to that.
The women of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi Sorority were chosen to be on the show Sorority
Life on MTV, the women thought this would be a good idea in the hopes of changing the
ideologies of Greek Life (Grindstaff, 2007). Grindstaff (2007) watched the show and conducted
a textual analysis of the show and its representations of Greek life. She found that the producers
pieced the footage to distort the message of the show. She noticed the episodes were compiled to
show that the chapter was a typical sorority and lived up to all the stereotypes. Makstellar et al.
(2011) found that students unaffiliated with Greek organizations had no desire to communicate
with the Greeks, because of their perceptions of Greek life in general thanks to experiences and
messages they consumed.
Interpretations of Media Messages
Media messages are various messages coming from different forms of media, such as
social media, computer mediated communities, and movies/television shows. Ramirez,
Shuangyue, McGrew, & Shu-Fang (2007) found that participants in Computer mediated
communication (CMC) communities found to have more positive interpretations than the
“lurkers” of the CMC’s. The results showed that there wasn’t much of a relationship between
those who do contribute and those who don’t. The previous studies showed that a lot of the
individuals in the discussions do not participate actively. With this information we are eager to
see if the participants of the Greek social media websites will hold more positive ideas of
fraternities and sororities and if the lurkers will internalize more negative ideas. This alludes to
how people effectively communicate when others convey these messages and how they share
these ideas.
Tyler (2010) performed an ethnographic audience study on different social groups
interpreting and communicating different messages from different sources. She found that
individuals would tie in their own personal experiences to help them understand the messages
they’re receiving. She also found that many of the participants would attempt to interpret the
texts to make the points of how people should understand behavior based on the texts.
Individuals would try to argue points to make a stance on their own reasoning and understanding,
but when challenged revert back to the in-groups consensus, because they want to maintain the
status quo. This is important to know because how messages from one person to another could
alter their conceptualization of the message.
Justification of Research
Our study will explore a whole new avenue for Greek Life and affiliated associations. Using
the findings of different experts and scholars (Griffin (2008); Grindstaff (2007); Makstaller,
Taylor, & Warber (2011); Ramirez, Shuangyue, McGrew, & Shu-Fang (2007); Tyler (2010);
Zimmerman (2012)) we plan to analyze how social media extensions concerning Greek life feed
into ideologies and perceptions of fraternities and sororities. We plan to explore whether social
media websites concerning Greek life, such as Total Frat Move (TFM), Total Sorority Move
(TSM), and Greek Rank, positively or negatively impact college students’ perceptions of Greek
life.
Methodology
We chose to utilize the qualitative method of research for our topic, because it will allow
us to gain a more in-depth understanding of students’ interpretations, versus the results one
would get by using surveys. We will be conducting our research by using focus groups that way
we can show the participants examples of TFM, TSM, and Greek Rank. Keyton (2011) defines a
focus group as “a facilitator-led group discussion used for collecting data from a group of
participants about a particular topic in a limited amount of time” (p. 292). This way, they will
converse and initialize a discussion to drive ideas and concepts from each other.
RQ1: How are social media sites concerning Greek life (Total Frat Move, Total Sorority Move,
and Greek Rank) influencing college students’ (Greek and non-Greek) impressions of fraternities
and sororities?
Participants
Participants will be students of Longwood University, but year and age will not be
relevant to our study. The four focus groups will be non-Greek students, social Greek students,
non-social Greek students, and double affiliated students (both social and non-social Greek).
Procedure
Since we’re doing focus group discussions, this will help more of a comfortable
environment to pick up. Keyton (2011) acknowledges that focus groups are useful in studying
the deliberation, dialogue, and democratic practice in a conversation. She also states that focus
groups are useful, because they give the researcher the opportunity the ability to gauge the level
of conversations and gain a deeper understanding of the participants’ ideas on the topic at hand.
Since there are two of us, one of us will be a scribe and write down as much as we possibly can
in order to document the data. Then one of us will act as a facilitator to drive the conversation
and attempt to draw out more information if the need arises. As a backup we will have an audio
recorder to pick up any information that we may not have picked up as the scribe was collecting
information. After the first meeting with the focus groups, the participant’s will receive an email
with some more open ended questions that will help us understand their ideas even more. This
will definitely help in case some members of the focus groups are a little quieter in person than
they are in writing.
Conclusion
Social media continues to be an emerging form of communication and influence. With
this research we hope to examine the different influences that social media websites directed
towards fraternities and sororities. This is necessary for Greek leaders to know, because it could
benefit the growth and retention in Greek life. Seeing as there is no prior research on this
phenomenon, we hope this research will be beneficial for professionals in student affairs in the
future.
Bibliography
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Barrabi, T. (2013, April 25). Sorority girl email: Rebecca martinson, author of 'deranged sorority
girl email,' resigns from delta gamma. International Business Times, Retrieved from
http://www.ibtimes.com/sorority-girl-email-rebecca-martinson-author-deranged-sororitygirl-email-resigns-delta-gamma
Geller, L. (2009, May 08). Sorority closed amid hazing allegations. NBC 12. Retrieved from
http://www.nbc12.com/global/story.asp?s=10325782
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Grindstaff, L. (2007). Who Wants to be a Celebrity (and why)? The Case of
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Appendix A
i.
Preliminary Assumptions of Greeks
i. What are your opinions of Greek life, and why?
1. This question is essential to just get a basic understanding of where
they’re coming from so that we can compare their preliminary
assumptions to their assumptions after being introduced to Total
Frat Move, Total Sorority Move, and Greek Rank.
ii. Where do you obtain most of your knowledge of Greek life?
1. This is important to know, knowing where they gain information is
vital to pick up on, to understand the context they collected the
information and how it has influenced their perceptions.
ii.
After being introduced to Total Frat Move, etc.
i. What are your initial reactions to this website?
1. Some people find the site to be funny and some patently offensive.
It’s good to know which because it’ll help us understand their
thought process further.
ii. If you were to visit this site, how would you perceive fraternities and
sororities?
1. This is our general question. This is the cornerstone and is
absolutely essential to our project, without it, we can’t define the
gap.