JuicyCampus.com: What Do You Think About The College Gossip Website?

It's as American as apple pie. The right to freedom of speech is something that universities across the US have always stood firm on. However, thanks to the website JuicyCampus.com, campuses like Cornell and Duke are being forced to consider the negative backlash that this freedom is having on their student bodies.

The online gossip community JuicyCampus.com boasts that it is "Always Anonymous...Always Juicy." That claim follows through with topics like "top 10 sluts on campus" and "all-time biggest douche-bags" being the tamer of the postings. While the site's founder, Mike Ivester, claims the site was created to provide a positive impact for both entertainment and free expression, we're not so convinced.

In the second Huffington Post/Alpha Kitty video panel — where we ask members of former Seventeen editor-in-chief Atoosa Rubenstein's "video collective" to weigh in on issues in the news and popular culture — Alpha Kitties respond to the question: What do you think about the college gossip website JuicyCampus.com? — Jill Belsley

Jill Belsley, 21, is a Journalism Major attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has appeared on Fox & Friends and was a contestant on MTV's Miss Seventeen.

AlphaKitty Jill discusses JuicyCampus. http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1435509626http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=1178199204

Eric Pierce, 21, is a Sociology Major attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His interests include backpacking, fratting, and danger.

AlphaKitty Eric discusses JuicyCampus. http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1435509627http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=1178199204

Anonymous Kitties, 21, attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In their spare time they enjoy music, art, and spreading world peace.

Anonymous AlphaKitties discuss JuicyCampus. http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1435509628http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=1178199204

Megan Trant, 21, is a Mathematics Major attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a member of the Chi Omega sorority and Pilates guru.

AlphaKitty Megan discusses JuicyCampus. http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1435509630http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=1178199204

Amanda Fuller, 20, is a Business Administration Major attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her interests include Habitat for Humanity, camping, and the occasional Facebook creep.

AlphaKitty Amanda discusses JuicyCampus. http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1435443571http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=1178199204

Alpha Kitty is a video collective started by former Seventeen Editor in Chief Atoosa Rubenstein to give young women a voice and a platform to get their opinions heard. Atoosa wanted to use her voice and influence to create eyeballs for young women (mostly college age) so they can have a stage for their thoughts and ideas. For more information, read about Alpha Kitty in BusinessWeek or the New York Times, or visit Alpha Kitty at www.youtube.com/alphakitty.

What do you think of JuicyCampus.com?

• I love it!
• I think it's funny, but deep down I feel bad about visiting it.
• I try to ignore it but occasionally I'll go, and it's not that bad.
• It's hurtful and divisive — and I hate it!
• What's JuicyCampus.com?

Comments

[AngelaBC]

I merely have two words for the people that use that site: GROW UP. If you honestly do not have something better to do with your time then search for and slander others via internet gossip, you do not deserve internet access. These people are not acting like adults, like the future of our corporations, cities, nation, and world. We do not need any more sites to encourage the drugs, alcohol abuse, and dangerous and immoral sleeping around of frats, sororities, and colleges. People can say whatever they want on their own personal myspaces, facebooks, and bloggers, and they can make these things anonymous. The site is unneccessary and uncalled for and a blatant waste of cyberspace. Of course, these opinions aren't going to ban it from existance or stop the gossip.

The question now is: does making it a news topic help or hurt it?

I didn't know about the site before I read this as I'm sure dozens and dozens of other girls didn't either. I found myself reading through the site in awe of what people put on there. We're just giving the site hits and providing a way for more people to hear about it. Are we sparking people against it enough or are we just boosting it's ratings?

[InternationalObserver]

I think it's been established that while you have the right to free expression you don't have the right to yell "FIRE!" in a crowded theatre. Posting anonymously on a website that 'Student X' is a complete moron who got so drunk she slept with her brother (I'm making this up BTW so don't search the site for it!) is NOT freedom of speech. It's abuse. It may take some time for Student X to find out these lies are being said about her, and by the time she has it removed 10zillion people will have already read it.

Whilst in theory most of us think we could shrug it off (if it happened to us) the reality is that it can affect you deeply. In a negative way. Everytime you meet someone you worry 'have they heard the BS posted on that site?'.

The guy running this website is no better than the idots who organised and videoed 'Bum Fights' a few years back (they too claimed 'freedom of expression' to defend their immorality). And I'm not surprised that College kids are falling for it either and buying into the website. These College kids were recently High School kids, and we all know how prevalent bullying is at High School.

But the internet *is* the Wild West and this site can't/won't be stopped ...

[lungfish]

I think that we have a right to speak our minds but not necessarily anonymously..... to be able to post hurtful inuendo or simply lies and abusiveness and not be accountable for it goes against fundamental principles of ethical behavior and accountability.
If student A can say whatever they want about student B, anonamously, and those comments affect the opinions of other students about student B in a negative way or injure student B's confidence then student A should be accountable.
Young people are especially vulnerable to this kind of abuse, and that is what it is, and it has no place in the college environment. It is the electronic equivelent of writing missives on bathroom walls. There is no difference between this and xeroxing off some unflattering flyers about someone and distributing them everywhere, anonymously. It is character assassination and slander at best. It sets a terrible precedent.
Is the "me" generation really so oblivious to accountability and hurtfulness? With this sort of thing floating around campus could it be a catalyst for people on the brink to commit murder and mayhem?

[SkimaskBob]

interesting post, especially with the videos ... definitely a good avenue for huffpo ... could use some more varied opinions though ... only one vid in favor, zero were ambivalent, and if there were very few responses in favor of the website, some numbers would also be interesting to see ... all in all though, excellent post, and I dig the idea.