This post was written by freshman Lyndsey Wajert, a Hatchet columnist.
Although many online businesses and Web sites have unfortunately fallen victim to the current fiscal crisis, the demise of a certain gossip site called “Juicy Campus” is not even remotely saddening. Due to lack of funding, Juicy Campus is no more.
The Web site has sparked a significant amount of controversy across college campuses by allowing anonymous users to post entries about their colleges and fellow students. Thankfully, it no longer poses a threat to those innocent students who have had the misfortune of becoming fodder for “discussion.”
Supporters and avid users of the site claimed that Juicy Campus merely allowed for harmless fun, and that the First Amendment prevented those who wanted to shut it down from taking substantial legal action.
Opponents like myself disagree. As an Opinions columnist, I am a staunch supporter of the right bestowed upon me by the Constitution that allows me to speak my mind while protecting me in the process. And I decry the over-emphasis on “political correctness” that inhibits free discussion and a frank expression of ideas on college campuses. However, Juicy Campus was merely a forum for bitter students to anonymously slander their peers, free of the need to defend their thoughts and be held accountable for their comments.
Last semester, authors of the student life blogs on the GW Patriot and the Colonialist cleverly urged GW students to post random facts on the site to cloud potentially damaging entries with innocent, irrelevant information. Postings bashing a certain fraternity were mixed with entries about Abraham Lincoln or the history of automobiles. A Hatchet staff editorial applauded the campaign, stating that “GW students should make a decisive effort to undermine the despicable site.” That was not censorship, or political correctness. It was the marketplace of ideas at work, drowning out the garbage.
Thankfully, the site no longer presents an issue. Apparently advertisers have enough sense to refrain from financially supporting such a deplorable Web site that takes an already appalling concept too far. In the mean time, those students who love scandals will just have to stick to posting on Web sites such as Facebook, where users are rarely anonymous and the option of deleting unsolicited posts exists. Then again, shouldn’t those students who so avidly talk about others over the web realize that GW is not the setting for the latest episode of Gossip Girl?
