The popular discussion site JuicyCampus.com fell victim to the financial crisis this month, which some students say may be a good thing.  

“Online ad revenue has plummeted and venture capital funding has dissolved,” creator Matt Ivester said in a press release on the site.  “Juicy Campus’ exponential growth outpaced our ability to muster the resources needed to survive this economic downturn.”

The Web site, which provided an anonymous forum for people to discuss virtually anything, garnered a lot of activity but was derogatory and vengeful postings often plagued the Web site.  

“I saw it while it was operable and I think it was completely unnecessary and negative, especially in regards to the Greek community,” Allie Nash, a sophomore in visual arts application, said. “I’m glad it’s gone.”

Other students shared similar sentiments.

“Juicy Campus shows people’s ignorance… it allows them to bash each other ‘anonymously,” Lauren Warwick, a junior in psychology, said.

Some students who claimed to have enjoyed the site refused to comment so they were not associated with the use of JuicyCampus.

However, the site’s purpose has not completely disappeared.  

The site now automatically redirects users to CollegeACB.com, the ‘Anonymous Confession Board’ that is apparently claiming the vacated throne. CollegeACB has installed “user moderation buttons” that report offensive posts to the Webmaster and they claim in their mission statement to be “devoted to promoting actual discussion, not provoking salacious posts or personal attacks.”

“We want to do something more positive than JuicyCampus, and I think we’ll have a much more positive image because we’ll adhere to our terms of service by responding to emails with complaints and installing the user moderation feature,” CollegeACB owner/operator Peter Frank said. “I believe this can have a much more positive effect.”

Visiting the site reveals it to be just more of the same with the most recent postings full of more personal attacks.

“The new site claims to be more substance oriented and less about gossip, but I looked at it and all I saw were people talking junk about other people or organizations,” Brian Smith, a sophomore in biology, said. “It’s just the same site with a new name a face.”

Anonymous internet gossip appears to be a phenomenon which will not go away easily, according to some students like Joel Dietrich, a senior in business.

“I think insecure people will always find a way to badmouth those around them, it makes them feel better,” Dietrich said. “Unfortunately, with the Internet, those comments are exposed to a much larger group and much more damage can be done.”

CollegeACB.com’s mission is “to fill the same niche as Juicy Campus, but without as much controversy and slander.”

However, Daniel Marcus, a sophomore in computer engineering, said Juicy Campus is a disappointment.

“On a college campus, communication is important and it must be open, but people also must be identified with what they say and be held accountable so that others can respond — that’s how communication works,” Marcus said.  “Juicy Campus allowed people to communicate in ways that tear society apart, not build it up constructively.”