The internet’s motto may as well be anyone can succeed. Banking on this, Peter Frank, an eighteen-year-old Wesleyan freshman (whose parents incidentally went to Michigan), has launched College ACB. Frank hopes to duplicate the success of the controversial and recently defunct Juicy Campus, whose traffic he spent five figures to purchase.
Juicy Campus contends their failure was the result of an advertising market contraction. Frank disagrees. “I’m not surprised they failed,” Frank said. “The type of content they allowed left them vulnerable to lawsuits.”
Frank also believes College ACB is different enough to succeed. “We’re trying to fill their void, but we wont allow mean spirited messages and if a post is reported and violates the terms of service, it will be removed,” he said. “They didn’t enforce their terms of service. They turned a blind eye. We won’t. This may make our website not as viral, but I wouldn’t be surprised if, in time, we had 100 schools posting.”
Like Juicy Campus, the Anonymous Confession Board (ACB) allows students to post without fear of retribution. Critics argue this contributed to Juicy Campus’ viciousness. Frank counters that the anonymity offers the chance to foster a more open dialogue.
“For example, a student may ask for advice,” he said. “One student, may feel comfortable anonymously saying he supports McCain, when all his friends support Obama. At more established schools, people have gotten into more advanced topics. My hope is that over time, students will get away from more libelous to more serious forms of discussion.”
With seven topics on Ohio State’s Anonymous Confession Board, two of which deal with specific females and their anatomy, Frank’s hope remains unrealized.
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