College life can be experienced online at WebDorm.com Tiffany Di Giacinto Lifesytles Editor Earlier this month CollegeWeb.com announced the launch of WebDorm, an interactive live glimpse into the lives of college students. The first WebDorm opened its doors February 1, featuring students attending college in New England. One week later the Great Lakes WebDorm went online, and just last weekend the Florida WebDorm became the newest addition to the CollegeWeb.com family, with several more planned to follow in the next few months. The WebDorm concept stems from the increasing popularity of web cameras, as well as from curiousity regarding “college life.” “One of our goals is to break any sterotypes people have of what it is like to be in college and to demonstrate it with the real thing. It doesn’t get any more accurate than this.” said Alex Chriss, founder of CollegeWeb.com. The WebDorms “broaden the perceptions of college students to include life beyond academics and partying” by placing live web cameras in a portion of a participating student’s dorm room for a semester. The images from the cameras are refreshed every 30 seconds and are broadcast live on the Internet along with biographical information about the students. WebDormers assume an alias that will be their name on WebDorm, and maintain an online journal that shares their thoughts and opinions. Furthermore, CollegeWeb.com users are able to meet and “talk” to any of the WebDormers via the WebDorm chat room. “Web-Dorm might need some refining as of yet, but it has the potential to be more exciting that shows like MTV’s the ‘Real World’ because WebDorm is live and unedited,” said New England WebDormer “Mr. Orange” of Cornell University. Sounds great, but how does this disprove the myth that all college students do is study and party? Several of the WebDormers admit that they don’t know how their time on WebDorm impacts the public’s perception of college students. The possibility of fame, although limited, was what truly drew them to WebDorm. “My opinion of these people [is] they’re out to make a buck and in the process I get a camera and a cool new experience. Something to tell people about, a limited fame of a sort...” said New England Webdormer “Smoot”. “The idea for WebDorm was very appealing to me primarily because it was something new and exciting. Also the idea that people might actually care about what is going on in my life is interesting, almostmakes me feel famous.” said “Mr. Orange” Visit “CompNerd,” a WebDormer from The State University of New York at Albany and you may see “CompNerd” and his Alpha Chi Ro fraternity brothers drinking a few beers or talking on the phone. “How are my experiences so far? I love it and so do my frat bros. They love to moon the cam once in a while...My sort of , kind of girlfriend wants to do me on cam.” said “CompNerd.” Remember, the WebDorms are live and unedited. While WebDormers are strongly encouraged not to participate in “overly vulgar” activities, CollegeWeb.com’s marketing manager Debra Grumet said it is the WebDormers who ultimately decide what the camera sees and what it doesn’t. “I’m getting used to the actual process of being a Web-Dormer. I change in a corner or in the bathroom, and both my roomate’s bed and mine are lofted above the camera’s eye.” said “Mr. Orange.” The WebDorm concept would fail miserably if it weren’t for the WebDorm chats. Any registered member of CollegeWeb.com can enter the chat room. Here you can meet other college students across the country, as well as talk with any of the 20 current WebDormers that are online. WebDormers are required to chat online twice a week, but most spend additional time online in the WebDorm chat room. If an administrator (an employee of CollegeWeb.com) is not online, the WebDormers have authority in the chat room. Recently the WebDormers were given the ability to give “time outs” to misbehaving or offensive people, which stop the punished person from sending any messages into the chat room for ten minutes. “I met a lot of whackos. Some people are just plain weird on there. No one in particular, but a lot are mostly guys, I think, asking to either see ‘Synchilla’ or ‘Sassy’ naked. I met a lot of cool people too.” said “CompNerd.” Regulars to the site cheered when the WebDormers received their “time out” abilities. Until they had this ability, “people would occasionally enter the chat room with the mistaken impression that they could find pornography here” explained one WebDorm visitor. Once an administrator informed one such person that there were plenty of pornography sites available on the Internet, if that was what he was looking for. He never came back. Grumit said that although they did have occasional problems like that in the beginning, they have “pretty much disappeared” and the WebDormers abilities to “punish” visitors who “get out of line” should eliminate most, if not all, of these incidences in the future. “There are some jerks that get on the site, but it’s really not a problem anymore because WebDormers can kick bad people off now,” said New England WebDormer “Leia” of Cornell University. WebDorm is like no other college student oriented sight on the web. It isn’t even like the “Real World.” Only at www.webdorm.com, can students from across the country meet, see, and interact with other college students 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “Mr. Orange” may have said it best. “All in all, it should be an interesting an exciting semester as we take a chance at this PG-rated voyeuristic treat.”