JuicyCampus, A Disgusting Website

I haven’t wanted to write about this… Mostly because I’m appalled by what I’ve seen.

13 RESPONSES TO "JUICYCAMPUS, A DISGUSTING WEBSITE"

Rebecca

I saw this on the news a couple months ago. I agree it's disturbing, and if you look at the larger picture, it's frustrating that our laws aren't keeping up with web 2.0. Great post!

October 9, 2008 7:46 am
Andy Drish

@Rebecca - Good point about our laws... But I'm not sure what they could do about it. Surely they'll have to draw a line at some point... The questions are "How" and "When".

October 9, 2008 8:26 am
Anonymous

We need less laws not more. If there is a demand for JuicyCampus it willo thrive. If not, it will go queitly intlo the night. Regulation is not the answer.

October 9, 2008 9:08 am
Norcross

Well, there are already laws on the books for slander and libel. Depending on how people post the information ("anonymous" on-line never really is, esp. at a college), the comments people make could be subject to that.

In addition, if the campus is big enough, I doubt it would have a real impact on most students. If you're at a school with 40,000+ students, how many would you even know, or ever come in contact with? And whatever the gossip is, I'm sure the people within that particular social circle have already spoke about it.

October 9, 2008 9:12 am
Aaron

I agree with Norcross. There is a facebook application that allows people to leave anonymous posts on your profile, and I have never seen anyone leave an anonymous post - even after people pleaded for them (haven't we all wondered what people say about us behind our backs?).

This may take off on smaller campuses, but with no room for a back-and-forth conversation I don't see any reason for people to use it other than spouting bile at one another.

October 9, 2008 9:25 am
Andy Drish

You're both right - There is a big difference between small schools and large ones. My college was small (roughly 3500 students.) With a campus like that, it'd be easy to post a person's name and have a lot of people know who you're talking about.

Aaron - I liked your point about "no back-and-forth conversation." When you think about it that way... the website really isn't much more than an open, anonymous forum for specific schools...

Did anyone on Brazen study law? I'm curious how slander/libel is actually defined and if the comments on JuicyCampus could actually be punishable in our legal system...

T=

October 9, 2008 9:42 am
Rebecca

@Andy, Anon, Norcross, Aaron - Juicy Campus is taking off on every campus. It doesn't matter the size. My university had about 40,000 students. I saw people I knew all the time, we all had the same professors, etc.

As Norcross mentions, there are laws for slander, libel, harassment, etc. These things aren't okay in real life, so what makes them okay online? You can't commoditize malice, and that's exactly what Juicy Campus is trying to do. They're trying to make money off of the misfortune of others.

The current laws protect the site. See http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/03/juicy_campus_free_spe...

October 9, 2008 9:46 am
KMS

Norcross and Aaron - the problem isn't the potential impact on your status as a student. The problem is what happens when a potential employer, mother-in-law, etc, googles your name and the JuicyCampus stuff gets read.

October 9, 2008 10:00 am
Tim

Disgusting and a terrible waste of time. These kids should be doing more productive things like lurking /B/

October 9, 2008 10:10 am
Spike

Juicy Campus is tame compared to some of the other sites out there, like Encyclopedia Dramatica and 4chan, that people post on.

We praise millenialls for their savvy tech skills and their ability to multitask, but in SOME (not all, but some) Gen Y'ers that fosters a disconnectedness and a misanthropic ugliness to their social interactions.

October 9, 2008 10:16 am
Andy Drish

@Rebecca - Thanks for the link. That article is interesting. Do you think the site is taking off and it will grow like Facebook did... Or do you think this is just the "flash in the pan," where the site is hot today, but will probably be gone tomorrow?

@KMS - How scary would that be if the number one Google search for your name yielded results from JuicyCampus? Another reason why everyone should have a blog or personal website. :)

@Tim - I remember when we got Facebook... I'm pretty sure some of my friends' GPAs went down because they wasted so much time on it. Hopefully this site quickly dies down and doesn't catch on like Facebook did.

October 9, 2008 10:21 am
Anonymous

In literature, it is sometimes claimed that "Homer said it all", in the sense that future writers can only rephrase or update themes and characters that were originally introduced and explored in The Iliad and The Odyssey. As a GenX'er with 15 years management experience in high-tech, I find the enthusiasm of Brazen Careerist to be refreshing, but the themes and characters all too familiar.

More apropos of the current topic: there is (or was) a JuicyWork website, called fuckedcompany.com. It was started just prior to the tech crash of 2000 as an outlet for the rumors and news of tech companies in demise. The forum also degenerated in lies and slander and was named accordingly.

Enjoy.

October 10, 2008 10:29 am
Jimmy

Legislation is not the answer, you cannot legislate honor.

October 10, 2008 11:20 am