SCSU Alumn Uses Instagram to Speak Out Against Online Harassment

ST. CLOUD -- A St. Cloud State University alumn along with nearly 400,000 followers are shaming men who abuse women women online.

Alexandra Tweten, started the Instagram account, Bye Felipe. Bye Felipe is designed to call out men who become hostile when rejected or ignored by women. The social media site was created a little over a year ago and has since gained national attention.

The site is a composition of screen shots that show abusive behavior and harassing comments made by men. Most of the conversations are from dating websites such as Tinder or OkCupid and some are text message conversations or Facebook messages.

Tweten says she was inspired to start the account through her own personal experiences and the site has impacted many women.

"I get thank you messages all the time from women saying: thank you for giving us a voice, I thought I was the only one who got these terrible messages and it makes me feel better knowing that other women experience this." --Tweten

Since creating the original Instagram, Bye Felipe has expanded to a Facebook page and a podcast. Tweten says her education played a huge role in creating Bye Felipe and dealing with media relations.

"I studied journalism and had a minor in women's studies, that definitely influenced the growth of my Instagram account. I wouldn't have known how to talk to the media or create my message without the background that I had at SCSU" --Tweten

Tweten has done multiple interviews with both local and national media and she says her experience as a newspaper editor for SCSU's University Chronicle has helped her prepare for interviews.

Tweten has plans to write a book based on Bye Felipe. As for now she is an eCommerce operations coordinator at Live Nation and also travels around the country hosting presentations on online harassment and dating, she spoke at SCSU Thursday night.