Gossipy college Web site goes offline

A gossip Web site that took college campuses by storm has shut down.

As of Feb. 5, JuicyCampus is no longer up and running, according to The Associated Press. CEO Matt Ivester, who founded the site in 2007, said in a statement online that “in these historically difficult economic times, online ad revenue has plummeted and venture capital funding has dissolved."

JuicyCampus allowed college students across the nation to post comments about anything they wanted, no matter how tasteless or offensive. Discussion boards weighed in on the “biggest slut on campus” or pinpointed women they thought should lose weight. Everything was completely anonymous; users did not even have to register.

The site was heavily criticized by college administrators and students who said it fostered hate speech. But because of a federal law known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the Web site was not legally responsible for postings made by others.

JuicyCampus spokesman, Steven Wilson, told The AP that legal troubles were not the cause of the shut down. The site employed about 20 people.