7.1: I Survived the Monroe-Woodbury Food Fight of '04

The last day of my sophomore year of high school stands out as one of if not the most epic day of my educational career. On this special day at Monroe-Woodbury HS, freshmen and seniors alike had conspired to carry out the seemingly impossible task of engaging in full-out food fight warfare during a particular lunch period. After the initial food was thrown, and several minutes of subsequent, juvenile bliss, the food fight came to an end and school administrators were left with thousands of dollars worth of damage to our cafeteria as well as hundreds of riled up teenagers to deal with. Instead of the logical move of keeping all those involved within the confines of the cafeteria, faculty members at my school instructed us to leave the cafeteria, forcing us triumphant students to hold a impromptu pep rally in the hall in celebration of our distaste of high school. As state police troops were ultimately called in for reinforcement, our food fight turned riot amounted to front page headlines on our local newspaper as well as international (yes international) press coverage. Success!




Coincidentally, one of my best friends and I had decided to bring in our video cameras to document our last day of school. We were both lucky enough to capture a great deal of the experience on film and felt a serious obligation to our peers to create a video (and a great obligation to ourselves to create profit). Needless to say, the "Foodfight DVDs," as they were commonly referred to, sold like hot cakes and within a month of the food fight hundreds had been distributed.

Throughout my last two years in high school, I heard stories of Monroe-Woodbury alum sharing their food fight videos with their new college friends-- the food fight had become the quintessential Monroe-Woodbury story, and the food fight DVD was the most accessible means through which to tell it. By the time I finally entered college, most of my peers had either scratched or lost their DVDs and I decided it was time to truly immortalize the M-W Food Fight and embrace the world of YouTube. Within the past 7 months the video has been viewed over 18,000 times.

So why the lengthy story about high school anarchy? Well, because last year while I was a bit reluctant to upload the food fight video to YouTube and end the possibility of ever having MTV's High School Stories pay me for it, I was invited to a very special Facebook group: I Survived the Monroe-Woodbury Food Fight of '04.

As one might expect, the members of this specific online community are those who, you guessed it, survived the food fight I previously described. As a community, it can be described using SNA (social network analysis) by evaluating the ways in which the group displays the various aspects of social capital: social networking, common group, and reciprocity.

Social network can be described as the web, relationships, bonding, and commitment displayed through a community. Within the "I Survived..." Facebook group, social networking is allowed through wall posts in which members describe their specific stories of the fateful day in high school. Similarly, members are also allowed to reminisce by uploading their very own food fight pictures. Of course, Facebook allows members to communicate outside of the group, as members are able to use the group as a tool through which to re-connect with old high school friends.


Common ground, which involves a shared historical identity, is especially easy to determine within the "I Survived..." Facebook group. Since all of the group's members attended my high school at the same time, there are several inherent similarities between members such as geographic location and high school. Additionally, members also share their memory of the food fight, the basis on which the group was formed.

Reciprocity, the means by which members reinforce and respond to one another, is also very much present within the "I Survived..." group. Throughout the various wall postings, are a number of arguments and debates; while many people joined the group to celebrate the food fight, others joined to condemn it. Additionally, before I had uploaded the food fight video to YouTube, the group seemed to be almost entirely geared towards locating the video on the Internet, as members promoted one another to find and upload their copies of the DVD.

This specific online community exists almost exclusively on the Internet. Since all members went to high school together, we all inherently share much more than our membership to a specific Facebook group. However, for future generations of food fight hopefuls, I can certainly imagine a few ways in which the synergy between online and offline could become very useful.


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