Juicy Campus Website Takes Gossip Too Far

At first, JuicyCampus.com sounds like a real-life college version of the anonymous and seemingly omnipotent voyeur of the CW series Gossip Girl. The "Gossip Girl," played by the voice of Kristen Bell, muses "You're nobody until you're talked about." But I'm sure if you ask a few of the victims of anonymous postings on Juicy Campus, they'd have preferred to remain nobodies.

Juicy Campus launched its beta site in August of 2007. At last count, over 60 campuses were participating. The founder is Matt Ivester, a member of Duke's Class of 2005. Until recently, his identity had been largely kept secret. According statements released by Juicy Campus, the objective of the site was to enable free and anonymous speech on college campuses. The site claims that it prohibits offensive or abusive material from being posted on the site. But in reality, the site fails to enforce this policy. Posters are encouraged to be uncensored and as "juicy" as possible with their gossip. But quite often the posts are simply personal attacks on fellow students. Suddenly, the line between free speech and slander are blurred.

According to CNN, a college freshman learned from a friend about postings, which used her full name and branded her as "ugly" and "overrated." The postings received over 1,000 hits. As a result, she's been having trouble sleeping and is suspicious of her friends and classmates. She says the site ruined her freshman year and quite possibly her entire college experience. Ten years ago, the writing on the bathroom wall was only seen by fellow classmates. But the modern day equivalent is visible to parents, potential employers and just about anyone with an Internet connection.

Law Enforcement officials in New Jersey, who have been investigating the site for more than a month, recently issued several subpoenas. New Jersey Law Enforcement has completely skirted the complex debate on free speech and accuses the site of consumer fraud since the site claims that offensive and abusive content will not be tolerated.

As early as November, college students began voicing concerns about the anonymous gossip forum. The use of full names, phone numbers and even dormitory addresses can cause the defamatory posts to show up in a simple Google search. ABC News quotes Michael Fertik, founder of ReputationDefender.com, as saying that the consequences on the schools themselves will become apparent once the targeted students have trouble finding jobs and developing their careers. But the consequences could potentially be much more grave considering that cyber-bullying has been connected to 10 suicides in the last 5 years.

While the free speech versus slander debate ensues, JuicyCampus.com is still up and running. I believe the writers of the United States Constitution never intended for free speech to also be completely anonymous. But as Shelly Palmer emphasized in the conclusion of An Analog Love Story with Facebook Complications, everything done on the Internet leaves a trace. Perhaps a compromise between light censorship and accountability can restore the site to fulfill its original purpose or free and (nearly) uncensored speech on campus.