Granted, I’ll believe it when it happens. There’s no accountability or credibility for the site as it is, so why not lie to strum up more page views?

<!–more The full letter after the jump.–>

What a wild ride this has been! In the past year and a half, JuicyCampus has become synonymous with college gossip, and is more popular than I could have ever expected. We’ve expanded to more than 500 campuses across the US, and have more than a million unique visitors coming to the site every month. It’s clear that we have provided a platform that students have found interesting, entertaining, and fun.

Unfortunately, even with great traffic and strong user loyalty, a business can’t survive and grow without a steady stream of revenue to support it. In these historically difficult economic times, online ad revenue has plummeted and venture capital funding has dissolved. JuicyCampus’ exponential growth outpaced our ability to muster the resources needed to survive this economic downturn, and as a result, we are closing down the site as of Feb. 5, 2009.

On behalf of everyone here at JuicyCampus, I would like to thank all of our users for reading, contributing to, and telling your friends about the site. And I’d like to thank everyone who has engaged in meaningful discussion about online privacy and internet censorship. 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.

Keep it Juicy,

Matt Ivester
Founder & CEO
JuicyCampus.com

[via WashingtonCityPaper, Daily News]

What a FAIL : Your everyday life stories

Community failings in an anonymous, streamlined environment?

Why the hell didn’t we think of that?

The site, formed by some French dudes, allows visitors to post a few sentences about something they fail-worthy – all without taking credit for it. The outcome is a Twitter slash Juicy Campus slash Digg-like community full of … fail.

A few highlights from the current posts:

Today, my boyfriend and I were looking for our bublegun flavored “numbing” lotion to have some morning fun. We couldnt find it anywhere. After about 10 minutes, my little nephew comes from my room crying and drool coming out of his mouth. He smelt like bubblegum, his mouth and tongue were all numb. FAIL

Today, after I’d been looking for my mobile for 2 days, I realised that the vegetable compartment in the fridge was vibrating. FAIL

UPDATE: The blog re-branded a few days after this original post, changing it’s name to “F My Life.” The concept is still pretty much the same, so is the site design. Now it’s going viral. And who says profanity doesn’t work?