Although the widespread outrage about the newly launched Web site “Amherst Confessional” is certainly warranted, I was more than a little surprised that all of the articles and editorials on the subject have not mentioned a single word about the Daily Jolt’s forum. The Confessional itself is new, but this mode of “communication” and the ideas contained therein certainly are not. Even though it is sponsored by a widely accepted campus institution, the content of the Jolt forum is no less insulting, no less objectifying, no less willing to call out individual students by name, and no less cowardly. Many of the very same threads that so gloriously adorn Confessional have made appearances as a Daily Jolt thread at one point in time or another. In fact, a recent Jolt thread discussing Confessionals pointed out that the only real difference between the two sites is that, unlike the Jolt, the Confessional contains all the comments for a given thread on a single page. Phew, ’cause all that clicking to read offensive comments was getting a little onerous.

To think that by getting rid of Amherst Confessionals we will expunge the thoughts, opinions and downright offensive sentiments on it is wishful at best. The existence of the Daily Jolt forum is just one testament to this fact. The culprit is at least, in part, the culture of anonymity that both sites not only condone, but upon which they depend. If Amherst students really desire a forum in which to discuss “the best boobs on campus” or to make lists of “the hottest” and “the most overrated” men and women here, they must take responsibility for their comments. If you wouldn’t want your name associated with your post, you shouldn’t be making it. Some people have and certainly will argue that anonymous forums are safe places for students to discuss topics that they might not otherwise feel comfortable broaching. And although this would be a compelling argument if the topics of discussion were of valid intellectual or social importance, they are not. Anyone, even the Confessional’s founder, would be hard pressed to justify the social validity of a discussion that centers around who has the best ass on campus. There are glimmering moments of hope on the Jolt when threads that are helpful, constructive or purely informational make an appearance. And on Confessional, one frustrated poster started a popular thread by asking fellow confessors to “say something nice about someone here.” But at their heart, neither forum is truly a “safe” place to voice thoughts and opinions if at any time they are used to objectify, vilify, expose and ridicule members of our community.

The contents of both Amherst Confessional and the Daily Jolt forum are most disheartening because they reveal the true colors of many of the members of our community. Anonymity may make individuals more unbridled in the expression of their thoughts, but it does not change the fact that those thoughts would exist regardless. If we should be outraged about anything, it’s not the existence of these sites, but the fact that the opinions and thoughts on both forums are reflective of the culture of a community in which we all live and work.

Liz Hines ’08