Spring Break
JuicyCampus shut down due to financial troubles
by Michelle Liberman
Staff writer
News | 2/10/09
Posted online at 5:41 AM EST on 2/10/09
/ Last updated at 7:15 PM EST on 2/10/09
JuicyCampus, the online gossip forum created in August 2007 for college campuses, was shut down last Thursday, according to a press release distributed on that day from Matt Ivester, the founder and CEO of JuicyCampus.
"In these historically difficult economic times, online ad revenue has plummeted and venture capital funding has dissolved," Ivester wrote in the press release.
"I'd like to thank everyone who has engaged in meaningful discussion about online privacy and Internet censorship," Ivester wrote in the press release. "JuicyCampus has raised issues that have passionate advocates on both sides, and I hope that dialogue will continue. While there are parts of JuicyCampus that none of us will miss-the mean-spirited posts and personal attacks-it has also been a place for the fun, lighthearted gossip of college life. I hope that is how it is remembered," he wrote.
The media contacts from JuicyCampus did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The site was controversial at Brandeis as it started gaining popularity last semester when students, under the protection of anonymity, began posting libelous information. "The site enabled some students who are ethically and morally challenged to anonymously hurt, through the words the world could read about other Brandeis students," Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.
While the Web site had over a million visitors each month from over 500 campuses, "Those in the administration that knew of [JuicyCampus] were appalled that it existed and that our students would post messages on it," Sawyer wrote.
"I despised every aspect of [JuicyCampus]," said Damien Lehfeldt '09, who created a Facebook group called "Shut Down Juicy Campus at Brandeis" over Thanksgiving break. "It was a complete contradiction to everything this University stands for. Students were singled out and encouraged to kill themselves. Some posters wrote about their desires for cancer to take the lives of their professors," he said.
"In these historically difficult economic times, online ad revenue has plummeted and venture capital funding has dissolved," Ivester wrote in the press release.
"I'd like to thank everyone who has engaged in meaningful discussion about online privacy and Internet censorship," Ivester wrote in the press release. "JuicyCampus has raised issues that have passionate advocates on both sides, and I hope that dialogue will continue. While there are parts of JuicyCampus that none of us will miss-the mean-spirited posts and personal attacks-it has also been a place for the fun, lighthearted gossip of college life. I hope that is how it is remembered," he wrote.
The media contacts from JuicyCampus did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The site was controversial at Brandeis as it started gaining popularity last semester when students, under the protection of anonymity, began posting libelous information. "The site enabled some students who are ethically and morally challenged to anonymously hurt, through the words the world could read about other Brandeis students," Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.
While the Web site had over a million visitors each month from over 500 campuses, "Those in the administration that knew of [JuicyCampus] were appalled that it existed and that our students would post messages on it," Sawyer wrote.
"I despised every aspect of [JuicyCampus]," said Damien Lehfeldt '09, who created a Facebook group called "Shut Down Juicy Campus at Brandeis" over Thanksgiving break. "It was a complete contradiction to everything this University stands for. Students were singled out and encouraged to kill themselves. Some posters wrote about their desires for cancer to take the lives of their professors," he said.
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