juicycampus.com

There is a college oriented website that allows anonymous posters to purportedly "report" on items of interest. The section dealing with a local university is located at http://www.juicycampus.com/index.php?sn=Texas%20Christian%20University.

The website is no more than a vehicle for irresponsible and uncontrolled gossip and slander of the worst kind, without regard for truth, facilitating anonymous publication of most offensive, personally embarrassing and false allegations about members of the university community.

Juicycampus.com is divided into sections according to various universities around the country. Each section solicits and publishes comments about the school and specifically named faculty members and students. Unregulated, anonymous comments include everything from the mundane to the most explicit, offensive and graphic content as well cursing and racist statements. No one polices the content. No contributor is required to identify themselves or take responsibility for their claims, and no one is required to prove of their allegations. As a result, anonymous posters make the most outrageous claims without regard to truth, and without any regard for the feelings or reputations of their targets. The website is a haven for anyone who wants to humiliate another person publically without taking responsibility for their comments. It's a vehicle for the weak and cowardly.

For example, the website under our local university contains a section about on campus clubs in which many of the headings read: "Which sororities are better?" "What's the reputation of different sororities?" "Which sorority has the loosest girls," "Who is the hottest girl from each sorority," and many other more explicit and offensive topics. One of the most appalling is a heading entitled: "Lets out a Gay Today" under which anonymous respondents are encouraged to name people who are supposedly gay, "outing" them on the internet for anyone to see. Respondants freely and anonymously name names that can not be deleted, so false or embarrassing allegations remain posted forever, likely popping up on google searches by friends, family members and potential employers.

This is an irresponsible use of the freedom of speech and of the internet, and while I know of no direct way to curb the misuse, I think, at a minimum that the anonymous posters should be identified by name or ip address and that information should be publically posted so they can take responsibility for their misbehavior.

What do you think?