A pair of friends, a boy and a girl, walk together to their next class when they are halted by a group of jeering boys who mock the two, beginning a craze that soon sweeps their entire social networking system. This seemingly harmless trend is well-known by most of my peers and especially myself in particular; it’s a term that has become known as “shipping.”
In case you didn’t know, “shipping” two people is basically forming a couple, whether they are real or not, and spreading the rumor that the two are together. It can start off by simple oohs or laughter, but can become something even more complex, with “ship names,” or a mashing of the two targets’ names, memes and several posts on the Internet.
Shipping a couple can have more negative outcomes than most perceive, especially when it is considered matchmaking. Matchmaking has a much more positive connotation and should not involve constant teasing. The two friends are ridiculed constantly on the Internet and in person, driving them to abandon their friendship in fear of more and more public humiliation. The girl is forced to endure several jokes and insults, while the boy is subjected to everyday glances and suggestive remarks from his peers.
Although these situations are somewhat drastic, it is hard to know what these people are thinking when their friends make fun of them. Relentless teasing and joking around can hurt the pair’s feelings, and irritate them to an extent.
As a popular victim of this constant “shipping,” I can’t say that my feelings have been hurt, but I do know that it gets extremely annoying when your friends start calling you by a ship name and reference a boy that is just a mere acquaintance to you. In my case, it even went so far as to my own teacher finding out about this nonexistent couple and pointing me out in front of the entire class.
Shipping has become another form of bullying and it is essentially cyberbullying as well, to a lower degree. Constant teasing is never fun to be a part of, and although it can be funny to mash two people together in a romantic situation, it’s probably going to ruin any sort of relationship or friendship the two already have and prevent it from happening in the future. If you really want two of your friends to get together, try giving them subtle hints and see if they really work well together, instead of outright declaring that they are your “OTP” (One True Pair).
TCHS School Newspaper