When college students hear the words “juicy campus,” they should know exactly what it means. Created on Aug. 1, 2007, the Web site gave students in various universities the chance to anonymously gossip — excuse me, blog — about pretty much anything remotely relating to their school. What could be better?
Despite the encouraging, inspiring comments that were found throughout the pages of JuicyCampus.com, it shut down on Feb. 5 of this year. But gossipers didn’t need to break a sweat, for CollegeACB.com quickly replaced its predecessor.
In case you haven’t been on the site before, I’ll give you a quick overview. The first thing you see is a red-and-white picture of sketched students without faces. If that doesn’t creep you out enough, you can scroll down to find a list of just about every college in America — but don’t worry if one isn’t there, you can just e-mail the creator and he’ll be glad to assist in your blogging. After you click on your school’s name, you are redirected to a page full of discussion topics and comments “posted by anonymous.”
The typical posts are about greek life, whether praising or bashing it. I personally don’t find anything wrong with this — the stereotypes written on this site are things that are said all the time, so it doesn’t really make a difference if the comments are said aloud or written down. There’s always the immaturity factor, when people will post things out of spite, but hey, they’re the cool ones gossiping behind the safe haven of their keyboard.
But when does it become too much? Several discussions mention specific names, and these are not usually the nicest of comments. Sure, they can be funny or true, but it’s definitely no less hurtful to those who are being belittled. It’s not going to stop, because it is such an easy form of entertainment, but you have to feel sorry for the ones who are continually being bashed.
In the day and age of “Gossip Girl,” it’s easy to become addicted to Web sites such as these. As much as we hate to admit it, the temptation for most of us to learn gossip about others is way too strong to resist. Whether we actually post anything ourselves or not, the site so easy to get sucked into. There is also the fact that we’re making sure there’s nothing bad being said about us.
But besides being a source of entertainment, it can actually be useful. If you’re trying to decide what classes or professors you should avoid, there might be a discussion about it and, if not, you can begin a new topic. The Web site wasn’t created with the intention of creating drama, although that is generally what it has become infamous for. It’s kind of a shame that it has gained that kind of reputation, but on the other hand, I guess there’s no such thing as negative publicity.
So if ever you feel the need to let out some steam or make yourself feel better, just head on over to this site. And if you do decide to post something, just think about the outcome.
Keep it classy. Make it juicy. Don’t be bitter. Discuss.