Spring Break
'Juicy' Web Site Turns Ugly, Students Say
Elizabeth Connelly
Issue date: 3/18/08 Section: Focus
Juicycampus.com is a Web site where college students are able to go online and post whatever they feel like saying, and their comments are kept completely anonymous. With the headline of the Web site reading, "C'mon. Give us the juice. Posts are totally, 100% anonymous," students are enticed to say whatever is on their mind.
The Web site was started by Matt Ivestor, a Duke University graduate. It was supposed to serve as an entertaining Web site where students could say what's on their minds.
But as Jessica Bennett of Newsweek wrote, "What began as fun and games has now turned ugly and, in many cases, flatly defamatory."
Although it was intended to be a place where students could confess their crushes or vent about their roommates' messiness, Juicycampus.com is quickly becoming infamous for its derogatory and racist comments.
"I've heard of the Web site before and have gone on it once or twice, but its not something I check regularly," said Katie Griffin, a 4th-semester accounting major. "Some of the comments are just unnecessary and not even fun to read."
On March 16, a student from the University of Miami posted, "If you are gay, you have a serious problem, and you should really seek help. Please help yourself or you will grow up sad and diseased, for you are not natural."
The derogatory comments are not limited to the gay community. Fraternities at certain colleges are accused of being the most racist groups on campus. Racist comments towards blacks and Latinos are frequently posted.
Juictycampus.com is also used to expose people's darkest secrets. One student was even called out for cheating on his girlfriend. The anonymous blogger went as far as to write the man's first and last name and the location of where the cheating occurred.
These posts are just some of many that are left on the Web site daily and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it from continuing. According to Newsweek, the Web site is not sponsored by the schools that participate in it, so administrators cannot regulate it. Sites like this are protected by the federal law that immunizes Web hosts from liability for the musings of their users. With Juicycampus.com fully protected the only way to shut it down is for everyone to stop using it.
With all of the controversy surrounding the Web site, one would think that schools would be trying to disaffiliate themselves from the site, but JuicyCampus.com has over 60 schools from across the country participating in it, including Yale and Harvard. UConn, however, is not one of them, although the site's popularity still seems to be on the rise and the notion of it shuttng down anytime soon is unlikely.
Contact Elizabeth Connelly at
Elizabeth.Connelly@UConn.edu.
The Web site was started by Matt Ivestor, a Duke University graduate. It was supposed to serve as an entertaining Web site where students could say what's on their minds.
But as Jessica Bennett of Newsweek wrote, "What began as fun and games has now turned ugly and, in many cases, flatly defamatory."
Although it was intended to be a place where students could confess their crushes or vent about their roommates' messiness, Juicycampus.com is quickly becoming infamous for its derogatory and racist comments.
"I've heard of the Web site before and have gone on it once or twice, but its not something I check regularly," said Katie Griffin, a 4th-semester accounting major. "Some of the comments are just unnecessary and not even fun to read."
On March 16, a student from the University of Miami posted, "If you are gay, you have a serious problem, and you should really seek help. Please help yourself or you will grow up sad and diseased, for you are not natural."
The derogatory comments are not limited to the gay community. Fraternities at certain colleges are accused of being the most racist groups on campus. Racist comments towards blacks and Latinos are frequently posted.
Juictycampus.com is also used to expose people's darkest secrets. One student was even called out for cheating on his girlfriend. The anonymous blogger went as far as to write the man's first and last name and the location of where the cheating occurred.
These posts are just some of many that are left on the Web site daily and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it from continuing. According to Newsweek, the Web site is not sponsored by the schools that participate in it, so administrators cannot regulate it. Sites like this are protected by the federal law that immunizes Web hosts from liability for the musings of their users. With Juicycampus.com fully protected the only way to shut it down is for everyone to stop using it.
With all of the controversy surrounding the Web site, one would think that schools would be trying to disaffiliate themselves from the site, but JuicyCampus.com has over 60 schools from across the country participating in it, including Yale and Harvard. UConn, however, is not one of them, although the site's popularity still seems to be on the rise and the notion of it shuttng down anytime soon is unlikely.
Contact Elizabeth Connelly at
Elizabeth.Connelly@UConn.edu.
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