There has been much discussion on the internet regarding the controversial website and blog Fashion Bug. Fashion Bug was founded by a 22-year-old high school student, Adam Clayton, who was deeply involved in the online fashion industry. He launched his website as a way to get his peers to critique and comment on his outfit designs and also to encourage young people to express themselves artistically. In a way, his site was sort of a social network for fashion-conscious young men.
The website was immediately controversial since the way it was set up, where fashion-conscious women would upload some of their fashion blunders from the past year into a photo album and then send it to all of their friends on Facebook and Twitter. It was an ingenious idea but soon it became clear that this was not a way to solve a real problem, but rather used as a means of cyber bullying. Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace already had a certain amount of credibility about being a haven for cyberbullies, and as fashion bugs quickly realized, the girls in socks pics had just become another cyber target. Many mothers and fathers began to worry that their daughters might be the next victim.
Thankfully, the situation is finally looking better with more parents and grandparents standing up for their daughters. Fashion Bug is no longer a live website, but has been completely taken down for re-launch on a new platform called Dollhouses. This new site promises to bring a much more reputable and respectable image to the world of fashion, while still providing the same great service that has made it so popular in the first place. It also gives girls in socks pics something new to look at besides their boring fashion blogs.