A little birdie sends in an article about UVA Gossip sites.… I always wonder why the Cav Daily staff can’t produce better articles. They totally miss some obvious things. We discover the “anonymous editors” who run StreakTheLawn.com and help out the Cav Daily with a deeper look into those gossip sites.
The first thing they missed:
UM, HELLO YOU MISSED CVILLAIN, WHICH SPAWNED THE OTHER SITES!
I digress (and lie, JuicyCampus is just our brother), the headline from the Cav Daily article reads:
Shutting down the rumor mill
Gossip sites are not worth the risks they pose to the University community
Ok. I’m going to assume this is a call to arms against anonymous gossipers. Hmmm, that strikes close to home. We don’t say defamatory things about individuals or intend to harm anyone, like a lot of the gossip they are talking about.
The author, whose name appears on the page as “lead edit,” explains:
no one is accountable for what appears on [JuicyCampus, cVillain’s felonious younger brother], and users are free to spread vicious claims about students without any regard for decency or truthfulness
Well, “lead edit,” WELCOME TO THE INTERNET. The truth of the matter is quite simple, even with the anonymities of the writers, all it takes is some UVA student to subpoena the site in order to identify the defaming commenter and BOOM, someone gets exposed and publicly humiliated in a lawsuit. The internet really isn’t that anonymous folks. You are always accountable for what you say. We don’t do personal attacks on this site for that very reason (not to mention they are ugly).
The second half of this article discusses StreakTheLawn.com which unfortunately is behind a registration page. To save yourself the trouble of registering, take Buster’s description of the site:
i cry at the amount of brain cells i’m losing perusing [StreakTheLawn]
Or, look at the cached version of the page.
“Lead edit” continues on and explains that the editors refuse to identify themselves. “Lead edit,” again I have to WELCOME YOU TO THE INTERNET. It’s not hard, with a little searching to find those accountable. OK, we cheated and looked at the domain information before it went all anonymous, but look at this picture:
Cloudbrain is a local company. Looks like they had a job description up not too long ago! Google Cache let’s us know Cloudbrain was looking for a writing position for a UVA Gossip Blog:
Writers Wanted (UVA Students)
We are working on a new ultra-secret website that will essentially be a “gossip blog” focused on night life and hanging out at UVA. If you area UVA student, like to write and are interested in gossip, style, going out, hanging out or fun - contact us, we would love to here from you. More information can be found here: Writers Wanted
Or, you can look at the image of the cached page.
We got ya!
“Lead edit” concludes:
Streak The Lawn does pose a threat to the University’s reputation. Its emphasis is on the seedier aspects of the party scene at the University, with posts about strippers, hook-ups and fraternity hazing. It wasn’t too long ago the University was one of the biggest party schools in the country. Students spending thousands to attend what is now one of the nation’s finest academic institutions would not be happy to find their diplomas devalued by a perceived return to those days.
NO WAY. COLLEGE STUDENTS PARTY AND HIRE STRIPPERS? Well, that isn’t too bad unless they are written about by name on JuicyCampus.
The End.
[via Cavalier Daily]
Popularity: 26% [?]
Tagged as: Blogs, cav, cavalier, Charlottesville, College, daily, opinion, Rumors, University of Virginia, UVA, Virginia
ok everybody, here comes my opinion: if your institution rests on a foundation so shaky that hundreds of years of tradition can be undermined by one single internet blip of unsubstantiated blather on a pink and yellow website…
then your institution sucks.
We don’t do personal attacks on this site for that very reason (not to mention they are ugly)
Well, without naming names… *most* of us don’t.
i want to take this opportunity to personally attack belmont yo. with some blog typing. POW!
Well, without naming names… *most* of us don’t.
Fuck you, birthday boy!
(HBD! Come to South Street tonight for free malted beverages)
and a penis party!
That was a capital attack, parlie old chap, simply capital.
Thanks oy!
“penis confict”, parlie, “penis party” is entirely different.
sometimes
oh, sorry. it’s my first day.
Did somebody say “penis party”? Sorry. It just sounds funny. Say it out loud. Wait! Not if you’re around anyone!
oh, sorry. it’s my first day.
welcome to the internet
(thanks for the softball)
Hello again! You like penis parties?
I just said it out loud. Now Im fired.
Well, I did tell you not to say it around anyone, B’Yo!
if this were a party, W8LUCMDK would be the guy who’s twice as old as everybody else, but still shows up with forties and a bottle of maddog for himself. he gets shitfaced every time and throws up on the furniture, and he tries to do hotknives on your stove, with your good silver. also, there’s always at least one sketchy episode involving a passed out girl.
just wait…
i sure hope there are mashed potatoes at this party
Thor, I don’t know if they have newspapers up in your Asgard Starship
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asgard
but here in Vinland, since around the year 1000, newspapers have editorials and they are unsigned. Those other opinion pieces you see with names on them are called “columns” or “op-eds”.
In the days of my youth, I was told what it means to be a man,
And the Cav Daily did not look so bad
Now I’ve reached that age, I’ve tried to do
Increasingly it looks like it was written by, well, with youthful exuberance,
all those things the best I can.
but truth be told,
No matter how I try, I find my way into the same old jam.
Other school papers are even worse.
Sixteen, I fell in love with a girl as sweet as could be,
Only took a couple of days ’til she was rid of me.
She swore that she would be all mine and love me till the end,
But when I whispered in her ear, I lost another friend, oooh.
if this were a party, W8LUCMDK would be the guy …
I call dibs on that role
(where the passed out girl at?)
“Well if thats the kinda party its gonna be, Im gonna stick my dick in the mashed potatoes”?
“Well if thats the kinda party its gonna be, Im gonna stick my dick in the mashed potatoes”?
(furiously trying to come up with a “gravy” joke)
The stuffing joke is still up for grabs, too. My gift!
Its a beastie boys sample, I think that’s where W8LUCMDK was headed, and since i so badly missed his last hippity hoppity music reference, my fragile little ego could not resist calling it.
Mashed potatoes: for men who can’t do a real potato.
You’re a real spud nut, eh colfer?
No no, keep W8 away from the doughnuts! Sacre blue! (Takes on a whole new meaning, eh?)
Well this thread got jacked quick. Where’s my “feature” at, admins? I’d like to see where that one gets jacked off to…
hmm… poor choice of words.
I guess some people have a way with words, and other people just…. not… have way.
people have always spread nasty unsubstantiated rumors about each other. now some people type them on the internet instead of telling all their friends, who tell all their friends, etc, etc. same behavior, different medium.
and uva is not a party school? college isn’t about doing things you’re later ashamed of? damn, i totally missed that memo when i was in school here…
and happy birthday b yo.
is penis the word of the day ??? just wondering since i have a meeting coming up and should be prepared.
Where’s your sestina on’it? Or limerick.
Good morning! I was actually just working on that belmont. Ta-daaa.
UVA students, I want to tsk you, but a gossip blog is exactly what you need. But not a bunch of them! One! Must you all be the one to take credit for something? Can you share? Collaborate? Please?
@29 Yay!
@26 Thanks trillian!
@ 28
Once while I was busy threadjacking
It occured that something was lacking
I had wrote of some food
that put me into a mood
but turns out that the admins weren’t slacking
Blast! And we would haven’t gotten away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!…
I knew we should have changed that WHOIS account sooner.
We’ve been experimenting with social media around UVA for a while. Primarily with the Bostogo.com site and recently with the Streak The Lawn experiment. You don’t need Google’s cache. The Writers Wanted post is still up on our blog at Cloudbrain.com (just no mention of the name of the site - we didn’t want to ruin the surprise).
I do wonder how much that CD author thought through that editorial. Hide student shenanigans in an effort to protect the image of a “fine academic institution”? I assume he/she is a 1st year and a little overzealous about a budding career in journalism.
The internets are an interesting place.
While I agree with Thor that Internet anonymity is never complete (or certainly not as complete as some act like it is), it isn’t always as easy as just filing a subpoena or two are there you go. Without getting into the particulars, I point you to the example of the lawsuit filed by two young women against xoxohth.com/autoadmit.com and many of its users. That website (with two names, I guess) runs several ‘anonyous’ message boards, one of which is ostensibly a law school admissions message board. Anything goes there, and that anything has included very, very personal attacks against the two young women (complete with pictures, purportedly slanderous allegations of all kinds, etc.).
While the lawsuit is (to my knowledge) still pending, the filers have had very little traction identifying the offending posters - I don’t think they know anything more now than they did before they filed the thing. If the website (e.g., cvillain.com) does not keep IP records, there may be nothing out there to get with a subpoena. I think more and more websites and webhosts will take such steps in order to protect themselves.
I’m not advocating more slander; I’m just saying that Internet anonymity is a little stronger than sometimes assumed. It can’t always be undone by a bored first-year associate trying to get more billable hours.
Laptop + Coffee shop free WiFi + Reset Browser Settings + Generic gmail address = Anonymous post.
Done.
@33 or FoxyProxy!
well, i’m definitely not reading streakthelawn now that it requires registration. i need to save those brain cells for more nefarious purposes! like wishing b-yo a happy potato-filled birthday! (potato-filling birthday? sour cream? nah….)
Happy Birthday, b yo.
Hey thanks!
Happy B-Day, B-Yo!!!!
It’s yer b-day, b yo? I’ll have to get you a necklace, ring, or other piece of jewelry made of this fantastic mineral that recently came into my scope of awareness.
I can’t post its name here without falling into spasm-laden giggling fits.
sweet mother of god street. i followed your link and discovered under “physical characteristics” the following: “Cleavage: is good in two directions at 56 and 124 degree angles.”
the people in neighboring offices are wondering what’s going on with my uncontrollable laughing fit.
Now THAT is some funny shit right there. That poor geologist, Dr. Cummington, he was really doomed from the start when you think about it.
hahahah thats an excellent link. reminds me of a sign i saw in England pointing to a town oh so cleverly named ‘Cockermouth’
“Luster is silky or vitreous.” HA! That is hilarious. I needs me some o’ that in some jewelry, just for funsies.
Silky, eh? I wonder if it could be safely fashioned into a phallic shape for extra enjoyment…
I think it would be good for laughs
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FYI, UVA isn’t really a party school. Its night life is a joke.
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