If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em

Tony Zanders

Any Tom and Jerry fans out there? If not, the two characters became wildly popular for trying to plot each other’s demise episode after episode, until one day, when Jerry proposed a truce to Tom to resolve their age-old rivalry. I’m convinced that this cartoon classic has a lifelong lesson for those involved in the ongoing dialogue of student content censorship on the web: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

One of the consequences of not having a school-officiated venue for students to discuss courses, instructors, and out-of-class issues, is that students will inevitably find their own place to do it. This includes online forums like RateMyProfessors.com, a website where millions of students gather at their website to rate, comment, and be candid about professors. The reception from college faculty has evolved, as there is an active faculty audience that participates on the site responding to student comments with videos. Though this site has it’s value, it is a missed branding opportunity on the institution’s part to harness the valuable conversation taking place here, and channel it into it’s existing marketing efforts.

On the more controversial side, websites like the now-defunct JuicyCampus, and the recently-launched Campus Gossip (I removed the link because of extremely controversial content on the site) have caused many late nights for college faculty and staff, and with legitimate reason. There are serious concerns with the type of content that is displayed, and the manner in which it is moderated, as outlined by The Chronicle of Higher Education in a recent writeup. A practical solution seems to be for schools to take these site owners to court. But as explained by the writer in The Chronicle, legal experts believe that current laws will not help them fight back.

Now, there is an obvious need to rid the web of content and websites like JuicyCampus and CollegeGossip from a security, privacy, and cyber protection perspective. But this should not devalue venues created to allow students to vent about typical, appropriate college issues. Students want to vent to one another about issues in class and out of class. Students want to ask questions to their peers about everything from professors to ping-pong to public transportation routes. Students want to do this in a venue that they are comfortable with. Students are going to discuss these things whether it’s supported by the institution or not.

The best approach seems to be to provide a school-officiated venue for students to discuss everything on their minds. It shows students that your institution understand the importance of them having a place to vent, and that you trust them to manage these conversations with exchanging content responsibly, and not at the expense of a student’s reputation. This approach makes for a a strong peer-to-peer marketing tool, and also addresses the legal nightmare that is birthed through sitting back and letting students take things into their own hands.