A student hobby at Kenyon College involved using the student directory to look up friends' home addresses on Zillow, revealing their financial backgrounds. This practice sparked controversy, especially among those wanting to keep their financial situations private. Some students opposed the activity while ironically possessing wealth. The taboo surrounding this behavior seems more pronounced among wealthier individuals, highlighting socioeconomic distinctions. Zillow's widespread use has transformed it into more than just a real estate tool, functioning as a means of peer comparison and financial transparency.
"When Rebecca Kornman was a student at Kenyon College, she and some of her friends picked up a voyeuristic hobby. Using the Ohio liberal arts school's student directory, they found students' home addresses and looked them up on Zillow to see how much their families' homes cost."
"People would always frame it as, 'Well, you shouldn't do that, because some people are embarrassed about where they live.' But she found out that one of the main crusaders against the resource was a student who grew up in a multimillion-dollar home in SoHo, Manhattan."
"I think it's definitely more taboo the more money you have. You're all on the same page when you're in college. And so to differentiate each other, especially if someone's going out of their way to maybe obscure some of the facts of their life, it gives you good perspective."
"Zillow, the hugely popular and addictive real-estate platform launched in 2006, has gone from simply a tool to buy and sell homes to a full-fledged phenomenon."
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