Online Party Programming All the Rage

A business cannot thrive without a viable product. For some, that product is parties, and students are supplying it for free. FinnaRage and Smack College are two businesses like this, and they have been portrayed by many, including the media, as exploitive and harmful to students. 

These popular websites built followings online by supplying videos, pictures, and stories from sex and alcohol-fueled parties. The content comes from the followers and fans of the sites themselves. 

Most recently, FinnaRage was at Keene State College for the community’s annual Pumpkin Fest. The site claims to provide live entertainment and night life, chronicling the events with photos and videos, which later get posted to their site. The attention mostly goes to pictures of scantly clad women, known as #RageBabes. The site, which welcomes visitors to “Experience the Rage,” is more a vessel to house numerous links to social media accounts affiliated with the site. Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat are all being used to deliver a glimpse into the party life. 

Last year, Smack College visited Plymouth State University to video parties on campus in hopes of editing them together to create a viral sensation. Smack College, which frequently posts content submitted by Plymouth State students, had a successful trip. “We were welcomed very well by the PSU community,” said Sal Listro, the Twitter Director, College Community Lead, and Account Manager for Smack College. “As expected, we had no issues with the police.” 

Smack College came to Plymouth and recorded numerous parties at off-campus houses and the late-night scene at Club Phop (now American Pie). “I was at Omega the night Smack College was on campus. Apparently that was the first party they went to,” said an alum who appeared in the video and asked to remain anonymous. “The night that Smack College came to campus was a pretty crazy night. The house was full of a bunch of happy, crazy college students,” said senior Tyler McShinksy, who appeared in the video. 

The Smack College produced video filmed in Plymouth (none of the venues were on Plymouth State University’s campus), showed partiers drinking, making out, screaming, dancing, and smashing beer cans and bottles over their head. “I was with all my friends dancing, drinking, and just having a good time. Smack College made it a night to remember,” said McShinksy.

FinnaRage markets itself as a live entertainment, New England nightlife college tour. It travels to campuses across the region to sponsor and record parties. It recently found itself in headlines because it was present during the riots that transpired in Keene earlier this fall. Pumpkin Fest was an ideal venue for FinnaRage. The event brings in thousands of people and students from across the region, and students on campus routinely throw large parties Pumpkin Fest weekend whether an Internet site will be there or not. “Finnarage is huge on [social media]. They have campus representatives. You can be a campus rep, and help coordinate parties….there were too many factors, it was the perfect weekend for it to happen,” said Vanessa Alander, an adjunct English professor at PSU. Alander believes that the riots, while not caused by FinnaRage, were associated with the extra two to three hundred students that came to the area with the intent to “rage.” When they “rage” got shut down, the situation escalated. “The cops came in and broke the parties up. And then when you shove 300 kids out into the streets what happens? They get mad,” said Alander. “You have 300 kids in a house partying, they’re drunk, they’re pissed that the party is shut down, and now they’re on the streets. There’s nothing else for them to do.”

FinnaRage sent out numerous tweets that they had not come to Keene to cause riots. In the video it published of the Keene riots, there is a disclaimer stating: “’What you are about to witness was NOT a FinnaRage Event, nor did we condone or instigate any of the actions that took place on October 18th-19th 2014, it was all caught on tape’ – Trevor Finney.” Trevor Finney is the owner and founder of FinnaRage Entertainment. He declined to comment when contacted.

Melanie Plenda recently wrote an article titled “FinnaRage Wants You to Its Parties. So What if It Ends Up a Riot?” for The Daily Beast. The article outlined the Keene Riots and the heightened energy level that having FinnaRage there influenced. McShinksy highlighted this same idea when talking about the night Smack College was here. “The place was packed and everyone was going nuts because [Smack College] was there and shooting a video. [Smack College] just made the night more fun,” he said. Parties ignited by alcohol and music only get more fuel thrown onto them by the presence of these live entertainment/party websites. Sometimes just the fact that one of these websites will be in an area garners regional attention, drawing college-age people from across the Northeast to a specific campus with the sole intention of partying hard. 

One of these plagues of partiers was rumored to be on its way to PSU over Halloween. Through FinnaRage’s Twitter account, Plymouth State University was set as its target location for the holiday weekend. Administration responded, asking for heightened police presence and sending out an email to students reminding them about the student code of conduct and stating:

It is important for all students to be aware that negative behaviors or violations of local, state, or federal law either on- or off-campus, in or out of town, are a violation of University policy. Students are also responsible for the actions of their guests. Certain violations may result in suspension and/or expulsion. While the majority of students understand and abide by the behavioral expectations that are in place, some choose otherwise. Please use the influence that you have as a peer to remind your fellow students of our community expectations. Let your own behavior be a positive model for others. Do not let anybody discredit the quality and integrity of your education or PSU.

The state of New Hampshire also answered to the riots in Keene and the planned FinnaRage visit to PSU. “The Attorney General’s Office is in contact with the Department of Safety and local officials as they closely monitor the situation,” said William Hinkle, press secretary for Hassan, in an interview with The Union Leader. “Governor Hassan continues to work with law enforcement, higher education and local communities to learn from the irresponsible, terrible actions in Keene and help minimize these events in the future.”

Nothing of note occurred over Halloween weekend, and FinnaRage never showed up. When asked over Twitter why they had decided not come to Plymouth, the official FinnaRage Twitter account replied, “because the media has twisted our image, and does not condone our live entertainment.” 

This claim from FinnaRage isn’t farfetched. The discussions about these party entertainment websites, through both word of mouth and the media, have negative connotations attached to them. Numerous people feel that these websites exploit students. Neither McShinksy nor the anonymous alum received compensation for appearing in the Smack College video, nor did any students who appeared in the FinnaRage Keene video. Moreover, some students who appeared in the FinnaRage video faced consequences for their recorded activities. Neither McShinksy nor the anonymous alum faced consequences for appearing in the Smack College video.

These businesses use students to generate their content. Smack College, which was founded in January, has close to 600,000 daily readers/followers, gets 70 million views per week, and 80, interactions per day. “Our goal is to post real content from college students while moderating any content that we feel oversteps the bounds of reason and directly targets individuals,” said Listro. One hundred percent of their content is student-submitted, and all Listro and Smack College’s team of Giuseppe Stuto, co-founder and business & product lead; Frank Iudiciani, co-founder and marketing & operations lead; Anthony Lopez, Twitter director, high school community lead, and account manager; and Rachel Connor, Smack College New England account manager do is “screen for content that they feel may inappropriately target an individual and refrain from posting such content. If some content is deemed inappropriate due to it being reported to our attention, they immediately remove the content” according to Listro. 

This is not an uncommon practice for online businesses. “I think it’s just important to remember the business model behind it, and the business model needs to be transparent,” said Terri Dautcher, a contract faculty member who teaches marketing classes. “The business model, like lots of good web businesses, has figured out ways to have consumers generate content. That consumer generated content is what drives traffic.” Yes, students are being exploited by these websites, but they are doing so voluntarily. “Facebook is a good example. Facebook has grown into a multibillion dollar industry by having people share content with each other voluntarily. That allows [Facebook] to sell advertising,” said Dautcher. 

Smack College currently does not generate any revenue from their site. “Though we do get several offers to advertise on a daily basis, we want to be extra careful that we do not disrupt the user experience, especially during this stage of rapid countrywide growth,” said Listro. 

The students who appear in these video also don’t mind that they are feeding the sites with content. “It was a fun night with my friends, and I would do it all over again,” said McShinksy. “I think I would do it again, skipping the part where I was in the video. Although it’s hard to tell it was me unless you know me, you still never know who could come across it and how it could affect your image. However, I did have a lot of fun…I don’t regret it,” said the anonymous alum.

Students have this right. They can choose not to care about where their image winds up, and even though the two PSU students have not faced consequences for appearing in the Smack College video, some students from the Keene riots have gotten into trouble for appearing in online videos. “I think there could be long term consequences that I hope students are aware of before they participate in things like that,” said Dautcher. Though, she does feel that students have the right to choose what they participate in. “I think that anybody has the right to choose with awareness to share [their image]. I don’t just think in [these] case[s] some of these businesses haven’t been transparent in how they are doing it. I think it has bit some students at Keene, and I know it has bit some of my students in the past,” she said. “There’s a sense of really wanting to set people up to do activities that have real media appeal….bust out of the normative behavior kind of thing.” 

What Dautcher stresses, though, isn’t the students’ actions, but the lack of mindfulness they possess, and not even specifically with Smack College or FinnaRage. “Everything in life is buyer, and it’s up to us to think about our world around us,” she said. Students make choices every day, and Dautcher hopes that students are using their own moral compass when navigating through their life. She also hopes that the direction is coming from within students, not influenced by others, herself, Smack College, and FinnaRage included. “The only thing I care about as a teacher is that students are mindful of what they are doing, and that they are using their power and their potential in the way that serves them best in their opinion,” she said.  

FinnaRage and Smack College have been portrayed by many as exploitive and harmful to students, but that’s up for them to decide.