“Warning: This site is extremely juicy,” is the disclaimer that appears when one logs onto JuicyCampus.com, the controversial Web site that allows students from college campuses all across the nation to make anonymous posts about anything or anyone they choose.

Since its inception in 2007, the Web site has received over 15,000 individual requests from students who want their schools added to the site. Binghamton University is currently among the Web site’s 500 “juicy campuses,” with post topics ranging from “Ugliest couples” to “Hottest people in Mountainview.” JuicyCampus.com’s growing popularity poses a puzzling question. Why are college students so eager to gossip about each other via the shrouds of cyber-anonymity?

Matt Ivester, the founder of JuicyCampus.com, said he created the Web site to be an outlet for students to share their best, most memorable college stories.

“I realized that some of my favorite stories to reminisce about with friends were about the crazy things that happened in college,” Ivester said. “The stupid stuff we did while we were drunk, the parties we went to, the quirky professors we had. I realized every day, on every college campus, every group of friends has these stories.”

And while a good number of posts on the Web site discuss the best parties and places to go off campus, these posts are far outnumbered by mean-spirited and often demeaning posts about specific students. It is no surprise that the Web site has attracted a fair amount of criticism from school administrators, state officials and students themselves who argue that the Web site is allowing students to post false, potentially damaging lies without any threat of reprimand. Ivester said that posts of this nature, while insulting, are not what JuicyCampus.com was created for and should not be taken seriously because comments cannot be tracked.

“Personal attacks and false speech is a misuse of the Web site,” he said. “People need to remember that they are reading unsubstantiated, anonymous gossip. It should be taken with a grain of salt. I don’t think there is any real potential for damage to a reputation because we have actually gone out of our way to make sure nothing on our Web site is crawled by search engines.”

For many, the allure of discussing students’ personal lives and the inner workings of campus life with no risk of confrontation, has proved too enticing to ignore. After all, in recent years, America as a culture has become so immersed in celebrity gossip, with sites like PerezHilton.com offering “celebrity juice,” and Perez Hilton becoming a pseudo-celebrity. Just like the CW’s hit show “Gossip Girl” portrays, gossip is all the more engrossing when it is about someone you actually know. It appears that JuicyCampus.com is fast becoming the PerezHilton.com of college life.

“I think there’s a strong correlation between celebrity gossip and what I would call ‘campus celebrity gossip,’’’ Ivester said. “Every campus has celebrities. Whether it be the president of a sorority or fraternity, or an athlete, there are so many people that people are interested in on college campuses.”