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by ANNE BAKER
News Editor
If Facebook wasn’t enough, now Appalachian State University students have one more Web site to gossip about.
JuicyCampus.com, a Web site founded by Duke University alumnus Matt Ivester is notorious for giving students at various college campuses a place to discuss university social life—no matter how vulgar the topics might be.
Appalachian
students began posting on the site Sept. 2, and since then,
approximately 70 posts have been added under the “Appalachian State”
category.
The Web site was launched Oct. 24, 2007, and was inspired by Ivester’s own college experiences, he said.
Last
week, numerous college campuses were added to JuicyCampus as the Web
site upgraded the look of the site as well as its technology.
“A week ago we were at 63 [colleges and universities],” Ivester said. “[On Monday we were] at 295.”
He said
JuicyCampus plans to expand to 500 campuses later this month, and one
day, Ivester said he hopes every college campus in the country will be
a part of the network.
Categories
such as “Hot guys at App,” “Kappa Delta Girls” and “Don’t have sex in
the window” are among the most-viewed topics by Appalachian students.
Normally,
individuals might be afraid to post the replies that can be found on
the Web site, but according to JuicyCampus’ privacy policy, the site
does not require personal information from users.
Ivester said the Web site firmly believes in free, as well as anonymous speech online.
“…JuicyCampus
provides a forum for public speech on matters of public interest, and
the content posted by users is protected by the First Amendment of the
United States Constitution,” he said.
Although
some of the material posted on the Web site is controversial, Ivester
said JuicyCampus is not liable for content posted online.
“JuicyCampus
is not the author of the posts on the site,” he said. “…Pursuant to The
Communications Decency Act of 1996 Section 230, JuicyCampus is immune
from liability arising from content posted by users.”
Ivester
said the Web site does not have the identities of its users, and if a
user chooses to use an IP-cloaking mechanism, the site may not have an
identifying IP address for that particular user.
However, he said JuicyCampus will “comply with lawful subpoenas if and when we have to.”
Vice
Chancellor for Student Development Cindy A. Wallace said JuicyCampus
was a “complex issue,” and said she needed more time to investigate the
matter with others on Appalachian’s campus.
“Web
portals and blogging have opened the door to a great deal of false and
often hurtful information,” she said. “…Regulating those sites is not
easy if possible at all—and may not be legal.”
Appalachian’s Student Government Association declined to make a statement on JuicyCampus as of press time.
Ivester
said he sees the Web site simply as a place where college students can
come and tell others about their fun and crazy experiences.
“…It
struck me that every day, on every college campus, every group of
friends has these great stories,” he said. “Why not create a place for
people to share them?”
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