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There seems to be a mix of feelings about this. On the one hand, the concept of FitFinder is one I feel I ought to be offended by. This is a bit of a vain concern, because as a not especially “fit” person, I find it highly unlikely that any student would ever have posted anything about me – therefore I can object from purely a sense of exclusion – like we hate elite clubs merely because we are not admitted to them.
But I also feel I should object on the grounds of its objectification of fellow students as “fitties”. Surely a website that just looks at the physical appearance of students devalues their other, more notable achievements? And surely that has to be a bad thing? If only for the fact that, like celebrity culture puts pressure on people to look good all the time – I think we ought to have the right to go to our university library looking as disheveled as we like. If we want to go out in “trackies” and a “hoodie”, with unbrushed hair, we should feel like we can do that - without the pressure of being watched by self-titled “fit finders”.
But I’m going to admit something: I, for one, am sad this social curiosity has vanished from cyberspace. I feel like I missed out that I never had a chance to look at the site before it was taken down. I also feel a little bit annoyed on a principle level.
And I’ll tell you why.
A university: an institute of learning that we pay to provide us with an education, should not have the right to tell its students what they can or cannot do with their own time (providing it hurts nobody, of course, I don’t advertise complete anarchy). A press release given out on the remains of the website confirms that the website was taken down due to concerns that it was a “perceived distraction to students”. Martell, however, refuted this claim, admitting he was flattered that FitFinder was seen as a threat to independent study, but asked, “are students spending any more time on FitFinder that they would on, say, Facebook or Twitter?” His answer? “Not a chance.” And he’s right. Not only is Facebook far more distracting than the young site, but also we’re students – anything but work is going to be a distraction!
While Martell said in the press release that he was “not obliged” to shut the site down, UCL fined him £300 for apparently: “bringing the college into disrepute”. This is just ridiculous. Given the very fact that a ban on the website, enforced a week into its existence, was lifted due to protests by students, I was surprised that Martell decided to take it down. But when a University threatens your degree in not allowing you to graduate if you don’t pay the fine, I can see he had little choice in the matter. Over five million hits from fifty different universities is a good following, and for investors and advertisers interested in a student audience, FitFinder.co.uk was a perfect site for its creator – and now his achievement has arguably been for nothing.
But will I be signing the petition to save FitFinder?
Well, I’m not sure. Unlike the website, which claims (however lightly) that it is “making Britain a better place to live”, I don’t think this website was a particularly good concept. It doesn’t help people improve their lives or advance technology or anything. But I won’t judge anyone who does protest, and I’ve been tempted to sign it simply on principle – to paraphrase Voltaire, I’m not especially fond of what the website does, but I will defend (maybe not to the death) its right to do it.
The petition to “save FitFinder” gathered over 1000 signatures in the first two hours of it’s existence, and the Facebook campaign, organised by University of York student, Scott Bryan, currently has 3,393 members so far.
It’s funny. Had UCL not taken pains to ban this website, I’m not sure I would have even cared. But now they have, I’m a bit incensed about the whole thing. My interest isn’t in the website itself, its in the reaction to it: we should be able to do what we want to the right extent. I think this time, UCL overstepped their mandate.
Interestingly, there is now a site called phitfinder.com.
Now, I wonder what they’re doing…
Sadly "trackies and a hoodie" are, thanks to the Jack Wills/Abercrombie crowd, something very fashionable. Apparently it's cool to look like you just rolled out of bed. All they're missing is a dressing gown...
I'm not very computer literate, but did Rich Martell use UCL materials to create and operate this site? If not, then it's none of their business! They are, frankly, a bunch of snobs who exemplify everything that is wrong with higher education in the UK. They should be celebrating his extra-curricular success, not threatening to withold his degree.
Dude.
I live for the day I can wear my dressing gown out and about.
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