Grudgebridge temporarily deleted

Popular gripe and gossip page Grudgebridge has been deleted from Facebook after many complained of the page "deteriorating into cyber bullying." In response, the admin of the controversial page set up a poll asking whether Grudgebridge should be deleted.

Started last year, the page originally allowed students to anonymously submit 'grudges' against many facets of Cambridge life, including workload, societies and even national newspapers. The page quickly expanded into the thousands of likes, and even spawned a varsity rival in Oxfeud.

A classic example of a thesp-orientated grudge

However, during this Michaelmas, many saw the page as becoming gradually more personal, to the point at which the subjects of the posts could easily identify themselves. Some described the page as providing a platform for anonymous cyber bullying, contrasting the more kind hearted and wholesome Crushbridge, the page which inspired the X-bridge phenomenon.

Today, a petition against the page was set up, garnering 42 signatures. In the petition statement, Grudgebridge was criticised for being "toxic space that has become a platform for behaviour that is as pernicious as it is cowardly."

The petition had 42 signatures at the time of Grudgebridge's deletion

"We do not want this page, visible to all, to be affiliated with our institution and therefore demand that it is shut down."

"Life at Cambridge can be tough, but a page in which people supposedly 'vent' has been commandeered by cyber bullies that only serve to make life here for some even more difficult."

It is not yet clear whether the page was deleted in response to the petition or to the results of its own poll.

Providing exclusive comment to The Tab the anonymous founder of the petition said: "The petition was started after repeated attacks, including those of a transphobic nature, on individuals via the page."

"Cyber-bullying is one of the most degrading and pernicious (not to mention cowardly) acts, and to think it was taking place in such a public forum under the Cambridge brand is just absurd."

"‘Grudgebridge’ was intended to be a forum for venting about the stresses of Cambridge life but instead resulted in the perpetuation of the very toxic culture from which it supposedly sought to provide solace."

Edit: The page is now back up. Why it was deleted remains unclear.