Blog written by Molli Megasko
Here’s the thing about the Internet, it’s simple supply and demand. You can shut a site down, but if the demand is there, another one is going to pop up.
Take the online music sharing communities for example. Napster was a hit, it was the first widely-used peer-to-peer sharing service, and it made a major impact on how people used the Internet, the demand was there. When Napster was forced to shut down more grew in it’s place. Kazza, ShareBear, LimeWire — just to name a few.
So when I reading about Juicy Campus in PRWeek, (which allows anyone to post anonymous gossip about a person or organization at one of the 60-plus schools currently listed, without any vetting for veracity) I can see why universities want to put an end to the gossip sharing site. It’s not only hurtful, the idea itself is pathetic.
The Washington Post recently wrote their second article about JuicyCampus.com describing new law suits to help their case in shutting the site down:
“The site’s User Conduct Terms require posters to agree that they will not post content that is abusive, obscene or invasive of another’s privacy,” according to a news release from Milgram’s office. “JuicyCampus.com tells the public that this offensive content may be removed, but the site apparently lacks tools to report or dispute this material.”
Don’t get me wrong I think this site is trash, but suing might be a waste of time. If the site fizzles out like some say it might, great! But if the students want it, to them it’s easier than writing it on the bathroom doors, and they’ll figure out a new way.