Virtual bathroom walls

To some students, JuicyCampus.com is a Web site that provides entertainment by allowing users to speak freely on a public forum. To others, it’s a way to damage reputations.

The Web site was created in August 2007 by Mark Ivester, a Duke University alumnus. By March 2008, there were 59 different campuses with their own rumors and gossip. More recently, VCU was added to the site as it increased to more than 500 campuses nationwide.

Anyone can post and read content on the site without providing personal information. Under Juicy Campus’ terms and conditions, users agree not to post anything “unlawful, threatening, abusive, tortuous, defamatory, obscene, libelous, or invasive of another’s privacy.”

Psychology major Tom Wooldridge was mentioned in one of VCU’s most recent roasts. A thread about Wooldridge was posted about two months ago stating he was one of the university’s creepiest guys on campus.

“I laughed when my friends told me about it,” Wooldridge said. “I heard the Web site was about Greeks. It’s just a dumb hater Web site.”

Keywords such as “STDs” and “freshmen” make searching for gossip on Juicy Campus very user-friendly.

Fraternities and sororities have been one of the main topics on Juicy Campus. There are multiple postings containing rumors and hearsay about VCU’s Greek life.

Even some alumni are being targeted. Tommy Arnall, a 2007 VCU alumnus and member of Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity, had several threads written about him on the site. He said he was shocked when he heard he was on Juicy Campus.

“I’m not even in college anymore,” Arnall said. “(The site) is basically Greeks hating on Greeks.”

Juicy Campus and similar Web sites are protected under Communications Decency Act of 1996. As passed by Congress, operators of Internet services are not to be construed as publishers, and thus not legally liable for the words of third parties who use their services.

If an individual wanted to file a civil lawsuit against an anonymous individual, a judge can issue a subpoena. Juicy Campus says it will respond to any “lawful subpoena,” revealing a poster’s IP address.

Tanisha Carter, 22, says she does not search or comment on the Web site but she does browse the homepage for VCU.

“I don’t check it often because I don’t know the people on it, but it’s funny to read,” Carter said. “I know one person that’s on there, and what they wrote was pretty mean.”

Mass communications major Kelsey Mejia says no good can come of this Web site.

“The site allows people to write things they would never say to a person’s face,” Mejia said. “It lets them feel brave on the Internet but it really just brings out the cowardice in people.”