TheWolfWeb
Encyclopedia
TheWolfWeb, also known as TWW or T-dub, is an unofficial message board for North Carolina State University
(NCSU), created by Jacob Morgan. TWW was the prototype for the "party in college" message boards, which provide an online community
for a number of universities across the country. It was also a source of the codebase for TheCollegeWeb but is not part of that network despite the similarity of all of those sites to TWW. TheWolfWeb is located at www.thewolfweb.com and has a DNS alias at www.brentroad.com, which is the source for another of its names, "Brentroad.com."
It serves as a source of local (Raleigh
, NC) news, as frequently posting members of the message board will provide both eyewitness accounts and frequent updates on events in the area, ranging from vehicle accidents to on-campus crime and suicide events. It has also been significant in transmitting many Internet memes through the NCSU student body.(notably the terms pwnt, bwn
, and FDT
).
TheWolfWeb has gained local notoriety for two major incidents. On the night of February 26, 2004, members of the message board discovered and propagated via the board that a local TV news station (News 14 Carolina) would list any school, business, or church closing submitted on a web form. Many members of TheWolfWeb proceeded to use this form to submit bogus, often humorous school closings, which were then displayed on the TV station for several hours before the station's staff addressed the matter. (See News 14 Carolina
for more details.)
A few months later, a member of TheWolfWeb discovered that the NCSU Campus Police crime report web page had the login
and password
to modify the site stored in the site's source code
. Several other members of the message board used this security flaw
to create bogus crime listings, often vulgar or insulting to police officers. As a result of the prompt discovery of this by Campus Police, four members of the message board who are alleged to have participated in the postings were arrested. Almost 4 years after the arrests, the person who allegedly discovered these passwords was finally brought to trial, and was cleared of all charges. Some TheWolfWeb members attribute the publicity directed towards this case to vengeance-motivated action by the News 14 Carolina station.
TheWolfWeb was again brought to the public eye following a 2007 NCSU basketball game against their rival UNC
. Following a dunk that was view widely as in an unsportsmanlike fashion, racially charged comments were posted in threads discussing the championship game, offending numerous people.
The offensive comments were made by a few individual posters, while many more posters repudiated the racist remarks and/or made requests for site administrators to remove the offensive posts. The administrators of the site maintained their policy of not censoring any user comments. Although the largely un-moderated style leads to occasional unfortunate events such as this, the site's perceived commitment to free expression is considered fundamental to its culture.
Although not affiliated with NC State University, TheWolfWeb offers free accounts to students, faculty, staff, and alumni of NCSU who provide a valid NCSU e-mail address to register. Users not able or willing to provide an NCSU email address are required to pay a nominal fee to register. In addition to message board posting privileges, membership provides a limited-sized personal photo gallery. The website also offers a premium subscription option that includes access to premium areas, allows posting HTML and scripting, and access to a virtually unlimited filespace for storing photos.
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
(NCSU), created by Jacob Morgan. TWW was the prototype for the "party in college" message boards, which provide an online community
Online community
An online community is a virtual community that exists online and whose members enable its existence through taking part in membership ritual. An online community can take the form of an information system where anyone can post content, such as a Bulletin board system or one where only a restricted...
for a number of universities across the country. It was also a source of the codebase for TheCollegeWeb but is not part of that network despite the similarity of all of those sites to TWW. TheWolfWeb is located at www.thewolfweb.com and has a DNS alias at www.brentroad.com, which is the source for another of its names, "Brentroad.com."
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, NC) news, as frequently posting members of the message board will provide both eyewitness accounts and frequent updates on events in the area, ranging from vehicle accidents to on-campus crime and suicide events. It has also been significant in transmitting many Internet memes through the NCSU student body.(notably the terms pwnt, bwn
Internet slang
Internet slang is a type of slang that Internet users have popularized, and in many cases, have coined. Such terms often originate with the purpose of saving keystrokes. Many people use the same abbreviations in texting and instant messaging, and social networking websites...
, and FDT
Internet slang
Internet slang is a type of slang that Internet users have popularized, and in many cases, have coined. Such terms often originate with the purpose of saving keystrokes. Many people use the same abbreviations in texting and instant messaging, and social networking websites...
).
TheWolfWeb has gained local notoriety for two major incidents. On the night of February 26, 2004, members of the message board discovered and propagated via the board that a local TV news station (News 14 Carolina) would list any school, business, or church closing submitted on a web form. Many members of TheWolfWeb proceeded to use this form to submit bogus, often humorous school closings, which were then displayed on the TV station for several hours before the station's staff addressed the matter. (See News 14 Carolina
News 14 Carolina
News 14 Carolina is a 24-hour cable news service offered in North Carolina, USA, by Time Warner Cable on its cable TV systems in the state. There are News 14 Carolina television channels in Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, and Wilmington each primarily with local news but some local programming...
for more details.)
A few months later, a member of TheWolfWeb discovered that the NCSU Campus Police crime report web page had the login
Login
Login is the method whereby a user obtains access to a computer system.Login may also refer to:*Magazines:** LOGiN, published by Enterbrain** ;login:, published by USENIX* Login, Carmarthenshire, an hamlet in Carmarthenshire...
and password
Password
A password is a secret word or string of characters that is used for authentication, to prove identity or gain access to a resource . The password should be kept secret from those not allowed access....
to modify the site stored in the site's source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
. Several other members of the message board used this security flaw
Exploit (computer security)
An exploit is a piece of software, a chunk of data, or sequence of commands that takes advantage of a bug, glitch or vulnerability in order to cause unintended or unanticipated behavior to occur on computer software, hardware, or something electronic...
to create bogus crime listings, often vulgar or insulting to police officers. As a result of the prompt discovery of this by Campus Police, four members of the message board who are alleged to have participated in the postings were arrested. Almost 4 years after the arrests, the person who allegedly discovered these passwords was finally brought to trial, and was cleared of all charges. Some TheWolfWeb members attribute the publicity directed towards this case to vengeance-motivated action by the News 14 Carolina station.
TheWolfWeb was again brought to the public eye following a 2007 NCSU basketball game against their rival UNC
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
. Following a dunk that was view widely as in an unsportsmanlike fashion, racially charged comments were posted in threads discussing the championship game, offending numerous people.
Raleigh, N.C. — Although the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament wrapped up Sunday, emotions continued to roil Monday over racial slurs and other postings to a North Carolina State University fan Web site.
The Wolf Web, which isn't affiliated with the university, contained numerous posts that contained epithets and threatened to lynch University of North Carolina player Ty Lawson, who scored a breakaway slam dunk with 1 second left in UNC's 89-80 victory over N.C. State in the championship game.
The offensive comments were made by a few individual posters, while many more posters repudiated the racist remarks and/or made requests for site administrators to remove the offensive posts. The administrators of the site maintained their policy of not censoring any user comments. Although the largely un-moderated style leads to occasional unfortunate events such as this, the site's perceived commitment to free expression is considered fundamental to its culture.
Although not affiliated with NC State University, TheWolfWeb offers free accounts to students, faculty, staff, and alumni of NCSU who provide a valid NCSU e-mail address to register. Users not able or willing to provide an NCSU email address are required to pay a nominal fee to register. In addition to message board posting privileges, membership provides a limited-sized personal photo gallery. The website also offers a premium subscription option that includes access to premium areas, allows posting HTML and scripting, and access to a virtually unlimited filespace for storing photos.