In the most recent college rankings list, compiled by U.S. News and World Report, Washington University in St. Louis was ranked as the 13th best university in the nation, with an acceptance rate of a mere twenty-two percent. This ranking indicates both the academic caliber of the school, as well as the credentials necessary for acceptance. One would think that students who attend such a prestigious university would hold themselves to a certain standard of dignity, or at least would demonstrate a certain level of grammatical mastery. One look at collegeacb.com, with posts, such as “Hottest freshman girls. Who are you?” proves otherwise.
Like all esteemed and respected institutions, CollegeACB, which stands for College Anonymous Confession Board, has a mission statement. Typically, mission statements explain an organization’s purpose for existing. CollegeACB’s mission statement is reminiscent of the literary and philosophical French salons of the 18th century: “The College ACB, or College Anonymous Confession Board, seeks to give students a place to vent, rant, and talk to college peers in an environment free from social constraints and about subjects that might otherwise be taboo.” Unlike CollegeACB, French salons did not have a “report” button for comments that were too “taboo.” Even more progressive is the fact that if a post has a certain number of complaints, it will be deleted automatically from the website. Très moderne.
Zoe[1], Steph and I sat down mid-afternoon in the bustling Whispers café on the ground floor of the library. Zoe absent-mindedly snacked on goldfish, her golden hair and jewelry shimmering in the afternoon sunlight. Over the summer, her friend had texted her to inform her that her name had been mentioned in response to the post “Girls from the class of 2013 who think they run the school.” “Initially I was shocked, then I was embarrassed, then I thought it was hilarious, and then I owned it and then I was actually proud of myself,” Zoe said jovially. She added, laughing, “The shocked and embarrassed part lasted maybe five seconds.” I asked Zoe if she had any idea who had written it. “Some older person who saw me walking around on W.I.L.D. specifically, wearing a cowboy hat, pajama dress, a fanny pack, a picture of the Notorious B.I.G. stapled to my dress, alien sunglasses and carrying a “Caution It’s Wet” sign,” she explained frankly. She continued, her cheerful sarcasm becoming more and more apparent, “And I think they thought I was too ballsy. And that’s when my pride really sunk in.” Zoe does admit that initially the post made her rethink a lot of the things she does that she thinks are funny, but that people might misunderstand. She notes that she felt better about the post when she realized that she enjoyed her cyber-company, “all of the people that were listed with me are really fun, cool people, they’re all people that I really like.” She maintains that she ultimately took on the attitude of “I am who I am so like me or don’t.”
Steph was mentioned in the post, “Top Sluttiest Freshmen” – “because I slept with so many people last year,” she explains sarcastically, smiling. Steph does not have any idea who wrote her name, but her and Zoe hypothesize that it was someone she had crossed unintentionally, like a boy she had turned down on a lunch-date. “Initially it did hurt my self-esteem,” Steph confesses, “but then I realized I wasn’t sleeping around, and I’m not actually slutty so whoever wrote it doesn’t know me at all and is probably some depressed and lonely person.” Throughout our conversation, Steph seemed relaxed, not bitter. After the initial shock wore off, Steph eventually decided to post a response on the same page. She wrote, “I would just like to thank my peers, friends and family for helping me reach this position. Thanks for the support! Xoxo Steph.” She has made a point not to go on the website since.
Naturally, this sort of website inevitably brings up the issues of freedom of speech and censorship. With more and more instances of fatal cyber-bullying, such as the suicide of Phoebe Prince from Massachusetts, or Megan Meier of Missouri who also took her own life, the public eye has been made aware of the dangers of the online world. Both girls had been subjected to relentless forms of cyber bullying by their peers until they could not take the abuse any longer. Without ever discrediting these tragic stories, I find myself questioning whether such cases should be used as instruments to measure the current state of crisis in our society. Series of unfortunate, unfortunate events provide excellent wake-up calls, but do not necessarily accurately indicate the severity of a problem. If cyber denigration can cause suicides, perhaps less controversial websites, such as Facebook or Twitter, should additionally be dismantled as precautionary measures. Perhaps I am being rash, for what distinguishes CollegeACB from those other websites is the cloak of anonymity that it enables. Cyber slander that includes the author’s name can still occur on Facebook and Twitter, but the websites provide additional services and means of entertainment.
I would be surprised if I found someone who strongly advocated on behalf of CollegeACB, insisting that the website was a necessary institution of college life. If WashU’s chapter on CollegeACB were dismantled, life as we know would still go on. The website is not an integral part of our community; perhaps it is at other schools, but I can confidently say that it serves no real purpose here in St. Louis. I do not intend to say that CollegeACB enhances our community, but nor do I intend to say that it detracts. Still, as someone who has never been written up on CollegeACB, am I allowed to say that the site is harmless? Due to my lack of first-hand experience, I cannot say that comfortably or confidently, but I do think it. I recognize that the site is controversial, and for good reason. Should anyone be able to publicly voice his or her opinions of others without any repercussions? Probably not.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Wash U chapter.