The Daily O’Collegian

Jody Russell

A little extra baggage, a lot more fees

“Oklahoma State is Juicy.”

You’ve probably seen this Facebook advertisement. It sounds like an advertisement for fruity chewing gum.

The print below will tell you otherwise: “Juicy Campus is the all-new, totally anonymous site where you can read and post all the latest gossip on your campus.”

Genius? No; www.JuicyCampus.com is the worst thing to happen to the Internet since pop-ups.

Austen Mannes, a student at Pepperdine University, recently told CBS News that he found a post about himself on the site and said the site’s content is “racist, homophobic, sexist, libelous slander that just really destroys people.”

Despite hearing Mannes’ comment, I was skeptical about the site. After all, I gossip. My friends gossip. I know gossip can hurt, but it’s still only gossip.

How could a Web site be worse than gossiping in person?

I have never been more wrong about anything else in my life. I’m not joking. Some of the content is bad enough that before entering you have to check a box certifying you are at least 18 years old.

Here’s a taste of the topics: “Who is the biggest bitch on campus,” “Biggest Man Slut at OSU,” and “Guess who has herpes.”

Names are also listed so people can spill the “juice” about specific classmates. Reading through the comments was sickening. I think I threw up in my mouth while reading comments about “Guyz Ballz.” I said a few choice words after several posts.

A racial slur in one comment was unlike anything I have heard and judging from the level of racism, the author has been in the Ku Klux Klan since the first grade. The hatred in that comment and in others pushed my heartbeat to speeds previously achieved only during the most intense workout sessions.

I had to go for a walk to calm myself. I lost my appetite. For hours that night I was unable to sleep because I was trying to wrap my mind around what would lead students to degrade others to such a degree.

Worse, more comments are added to the site daily; sometimes several are added within hours or even minutes of one another. Each new topic turns up the heat. If I became a topic on the site, I would be scarred for life. You might say that you “don’t care what other people say or think about you,” but you have yet to become a topic on Juicy Campus.

Fraternities and sororities turned the Oklahoma State page into a place they can go to bash other houses. I don’t have any issues with competition, but some of the topics and comments go beyond healthy competition. OSU Greeks take pride in themselves for being campus leaders, but the only leadership they’ve shown on Juicy Campus is being the group with the most — and the most negative — posts.

Gossip doesn’t always have to be negative. CBS News’ Daniel Sieberg mentioned in his segment on Juicy Campus: “…Gossip researchers — and they really do exist — say gossip is not always bad. It can communicate useful information and helps set community standards about what is ­— and isn’t — acceptable behavior.”

Juicy Campus isn’t everyday gossip. It’s not acceptable behavior. What students post on Juicy Campus is some of the most revolting material ever published. People aren’t writing about celebrities. They aren’t sharing their thoughts with trusted friends. They are writing about people they live with or interact with on a daily basis, and they are sharing lies and personal information with anyone who has access to the Internet and the ability to read English.

Last time I checked, I was in college. Not high school. We’re mature adults, and we should start acting like mature adults. We have busy schedules, and spreading rumors on a Web site is a waste of time. If you’re that bored, you should consider actually doing your homework, enrolling in more credit hours, joining a campus organization or getting a job. If what you have to say is important enough that you feel the need to put it on the Internet, then you should be letting the world know who you are. Anonymity is for cowards.

The least we can do is try to control ourselves. The gossip we put on Juicy Campus doesn’t have to be obscene, excessive or explicit. We certainly don’t need to attack someone’s character. Better still, we can defend people who are attacked. The site could serve a useful purpose. Students could anonymously discuss real issues on campus, have political debates, build one another up through positive feedback, make harmless jokes about others, or share funny stories about classmates without revealing names.

Bottom line: Juicy Campus isn’t worth the time of day. If you haven’t visited it, then don’t. If you have, then I hope you learned your lesson.