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AutoAdmit has also been featured in articles discussing the increasing overlap between [[online identity]] and "[[real life]]" identity. On [[March 1]], [[2007]], [[ABC News]] profiled two [[Yale Law School]] students who alleged that sexually explicit comments had been posted about them on AutoAdmit.<ref>{{cite news | last = Marikar | first = Sheila | title = After Years of Telling All, 20-Somethings Start to Clam Up | publisher = ABC News | date = [[1 March]] [[2007]] | url = http://abcnews.go.com/US/Technology/story?id=2912364&page=1}}</ref> On [[March 7]], [[2007]], the ''[[Washington Post]]'' published a front-page article featuring AutoAdmit that reported similar allegations and raised questions regarding freedom of speech and anonymity. |
AutoAdmit has also been featured in articles discussing the increasing overlap between [[online identity]] and "[[real life]]" identity. On [[March 1]], [[2007]], [[ABC News]] profiled two [[Yale Law School]] students who alleged that sexually explicit comments had been posted about them on AutoAdmit.<ref>{{cite news | last = Marikar | first = Sheila | title = After Years of Telling All, 20-Somethings Start to Clam Up | publisher = ABC News | date = [[1 March]] [[2007]] | url = http://abcnews.go.com/US/Technology/story?id=2912364&page=1}}</ref> On [[March 7]], [[2007]], the ''[[Washington Post]]'' published a front-page article featuring AutoAdmit that reported similar allegations and raised questions regarding freedom of speech and anonymity. |
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<ref>{{cite news | last = Nakashima | first = Ellen | title = Harsh Words Die Hard on the Web | publisher = Washington Post | pages = A-1 | date = [[7 March]] [[2007]] | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/06/AR2007030602705.html}}</ref> The sudden publicty sparked a flurry of debate as well as a new wave of harassment, including an incident that led |
<ref>{{cite news | last = Nakashima | first = Ellen | title = Harsh Words Die Hard on the Web | publisher = Washington Post | pages = A-1 | date = [[7 March]] [[2007]] | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/06/AR2007030602705.html}}</ref> The sudden publicty sparked a flurry of debate as well as a new wave of harassment, including an incident that led one of AutoAdmit's adminstrators to resign.<ref>{{cite web | last = Hoffman | first = Dave | title = Penn Law Student "Resigns" From Xoxohth | publisher = [http://www.concurringopinions.com/ Concurring Opinions] | date = [[13 March]] [[2007]] | url = http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/03/penn_law_studen.html | accessmonthday = [[15 March]] |accessyear = [[2007]]}}</ref> |
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AutoAdmit is currently the subject of a series of blog posts entitled |
AutoAdmit is currently the subject of a series of blog posts entitled |
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Revision as of 17:20, 21 March 2007
AutoAdmit, also known as Xoxohth, is a message board site for prospective and current college and graduate and law students. Its law school message board is its busiest section. AutoAdmit has frequently drawn the attention and criticism of the legal community for its lack of moderation and its popularity.
AutoAdmit was created in early 2004 by Jarret "rachmiel" Cohen and an MIT student under the moniker Boondocks, under the original name of Xoxohth. Its initial community was drawn from users dissatisfied with changes made to the Princeton Review message board in March 2004, such as IP tracking and stricter moderation of discussions.[1] AutoAdmit currently receives over 700,000 unique visitors a month (with an estimated 100,000 regular readers) and about 12,000 posts a day.[1]
Criticism
Several law professors have criticized AutoAdmit for encouraging offensive trolling under the cover of anonymity. In one heated exchange, Brian Leiter of the University of Texas at Austin accused AutoAdmit of being "a massive forum for bizarre racist, anti-semitic, and viciously sexist postings, mixed in with posts genuinely related to law school."[2] In response, Eugene Volokh of UCLA suggested that AutoAdmit may provide "a public service" by being a forum where the legal community can quickly respond to extreme or unpopular opinions.[3]
On November 29, 2006, a group of paralegals at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, a large New York law firm, posed as Milbank attorneys on AutoAdmit and posted a fictitious Milbank internal memorandum announcing year-end bonus compensation amounts for the firm's attorneys. [2] The hoax was staged a few hours after a Wall Street Journal article reported on the mounting speculation over law firm bonus amounts for that year.[4] Because the fake internal memo announced bonuses that would have made total compensation only slightly higher than the past year, the post immediately evoked a sharp response from associates at other law firms who had expected a higher raise and feared their firms would match Milbank's announcement.[5] The pranksters soon confessed to the elaborate hoax, prompting legal blogger David Lat to criticize AutoAdmit for its lack of reliability and for needlessly sparking a frenzy.[6]
AutoAdmit has also been featured in articles discussing the increasing overlap between online identity and "real life" identity. On March 1, 2007, ABC News profiled two Yale Law School students who alleged that sexually explicit comments had been posted about them on AutoAdmit.[7] On March 7, 2007, the Washington Post published a front-page article featuring AutoAdmit that reported similar allegations and raised questions regarding freedom of speech and anonymity. [8] The sudden publicty sparked a flurry of debate as well as a new wave of harassment, including an incident that led one of AutoAdmit's adminstrators to resign.[9]
AutoAdmit is currently the subject of a series of blog posts entitled "Xoxohth, Civility, and Prestige" by Dave Hoffman of Temple University. AutoAdmit has also been noted in mainstream publications such as the Boston Globe [3] and is a popular reference for articles in law school newspapers such as the Harvard Law Record, e.g. [4] and [5].
Notes
- ^ a b Hoffman, Dave (1 November 2006). "Xoxohth 1.1: The Past and Present". Concurring Opinions.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); External link in|publisher=|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Leiter, Brian (11 March 2005). "Penn Law Student, Anthony Ciolli, Admits to Running Prelaw Discussion Board Awash in Racist, Anti-Semitic, Sexist Abuse". Leiter Reports.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Volokh, Eugene (6 March 2005). "More About Online Racism and Anti-Semitism". The Volokh Conspiracy.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Koppel, Nathan (29 November 2006). "Jury's Still Out on Wall Street Law Bonuses". Wall Street Journal. pp. C1.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ During the hoax, co-owner and administrator Anthony Ciolli revealed, "It seems like virtually every firm in the Vault Top 50 is represented in the IP logs for this thread right now" (referring to the top 50 American law firms as ranked by Vault, Inc.).[1]
- ^ Lat, David (30 November 2006). "Associate Bonus Watch: The Milbank Memo Is Fake". AboveTheLaw.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Marikar, Sheila (1 March 2007). "After Years of Telling All, 20-Somethings Start to Clam Up". ABC News.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Nakashima, Ellen (7 March 2007). "Harsh Words Die Hard on the Web". Washington Post. pp. A-1.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Hoffman, Dave (13 March 2007). "Penn Law Student "Resigns" From Xoxohth". Concurring Opinions.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); External link in|publisher=|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help)