@GBSbystander is an anonymous Twitter account that has quickly gained popularity tweeting about daily occurrences at South. Co-Opinions Editor Khishigee Ganbold contacted the anonymous tweeter to find out more about the person behind the humorous and sometimes controversial tweets. While the editorial above discusses the possible consequences of hurtful web content, The Oracle saw merit in seeking to better understand @GBSbystander’s motives and habits.

Khishigee Ganbold: Is there a possibility that GBSbystander is more than one person? Or are you a one-man show?

@GBSbystander: I’m definitely a one-man show. I’ve considered bringing someone else on, but I’m very adamant about keeping it a secret and I don’t want to risk it getting out.

KG: What made you decide to make an anonymous Twitter?

GBSB: I wanted it to be an outlet for students during passing periods. Those five minutes are our chance to relax for a second and blow off steam and what better way to do that then by reading a funny tweet? It’s also fun for me to plan them during the day and to brainstorm during class. I could have dedicated my [personal] Twitter to school stuff, but I have more freedom when it’s anonymous and I think having my name attached to the account would take away from the humor.

KG: Is there anything you’d like to say about your growing popularity?

GBSB: I’m not surprised it got this big. I’m actually more surprised no one did it before me. I think the reason people like it is because my tweets are witty and they are honestly reading them as being from a GBS bystander and not one of their peers whose personality and name they know.

KG: So you’ve mentioned the names of a couple of teachers in your tweets, are these the actual names of teachers you’ve had/currently have or is it a cover?

GBSB: They are all teachers I’ve had interactions with. I haven’t necessarily had them as a teacher. And things I say happen during class are accurate, but not necessarily precise.

KG: Is it safe to presume that when you tweet the names of certain teachers, they’re not actually your teacher?

GBSB: Not always, but sometimes.

KG: I noticed that you recently deleted a tweet about a specific teacher, would you like to explain why?

GBSB: It’s one thing to say something rude about teachers as a whole (because I’m not the biggest fan of teachers in general) but I think being specific is unfair to the teacher. It also makes me look bad.

KG: So would you say that because you’ve grown to be so popular that you have to be more careful about what you say? (Did you regret tweeting it?)

GBSB: I regretted tweeting it, but not at all because of popularity. Whether I had 10 followers at the time or 1,000, it wasn’t fair to the teacher.

KG: Do you hear talk about your Twitter at school? If so, when?

GBSB: Everywhere. Mostly it’s people wondering who I am, but I hope later down the line people just talk about my tweets.

KG: What about certain tweets about “inappropriate” things? I mean, I know our administrators say that they do not go looking for people who do inappropriate things, but what if somehow word gets out about who you are?

GBSB: Like I said before my tweets don’t necessarily reflect my actions. Which is one of the reasons it is called @GBSbystander. My tweets reflect things that GBS kids experience, not things I necessarily experience.

KG: So what is to happen to @GBSbystander after you graduate? Do you think you’ll be around that long?

GBSB: @GBSbystander is still in its infantile stage. If it continues to be successful I definitely want to pass on the torch to my classmates in younger grades. The response so far has been great and I hope it continues that way.

KG: Any last words to the readers of The Oracle? Anything you’d like to say without the limitations of 140 characters?

GBSB: I guess I would just like to thank my followers and also address people I talk about and assure them that if I’m tweeting about you congratulations because it means you’re worth tweeting about.