Confessions page

Confessions pages are pages on social networking websites (such as Facebook) which are used to post confessions by students and alumni of the respective school or college. Confessions are sent to the administrators of the page anonymously through a free online survey tool such as SurveyMonkey or Google Forms. The administrators then decide which confessions to post on the page. As a result of anonymity, confessions regarding the institution are often accepted from people who are not actually a part of the institution. Confessions range from those that deal with sex to those that deal with depression. Confessions on these pages are sometimes a way for students to express their emotions and beliefs due to the anonymity of the posts. Confessions pages are becoming very popular among not only colleges but also high schools. For instance, Boulder High School, in CO, has a very popular confessions page that is flooded with posts about crushes and other relationship details. Students feel comfortable on revealing their thoughts on confessions pages due to the complete anonymity of their posts. However, due to the anonymity, the pages sometimes have to be screened by their creators as some users may post about sensitive topics that may be related to race or sexual orientation.

History and Overview

Anonymous confession pages went viral on the internet in 2013. The confession pages trend has been spreading all across the United States. One student told Buzzfeed, “Everyone posts so much about themselves. It is sort of disturbing, borderline creepy, but sickly entertaining.” Facebook pages for confessions pages began surfacing for college campuses large and small all around the United States. High schools have also had these confession pages appear, but some have been shut down due to cyberbullying. Since these sites are anonymous, it is hard for parents and school administrators to completely shut them down. They can report these pages to the website administrators but unless the pages violate the site’s terms of services, they will not be shut down. For example, this is what Facebook has to say about these pages, “These pages, just as every other page on Facebook, are still completely accountable to our terms. If the content violates [the terms] we will remove it and in some cases remove the page entirely. We maintain a robust reporting infrastructure to keep an eye out for offensive or potentially dangerous content. This reporting infrastructure includes a trained team of reviewers who respond to reports and escalate them to law enforcement as needed.” Even if a page is shut down, another person can easily create another confessions page. According to the New York Times, campus administrators are worried that “outsiders will mistake these raunchy independent pages — with their school logos and landmark buildings — for sanctioned reflections of campus life.”

How it Works

Confession pages are created when an administrator (most often a student) sets up a page with a link to a Survey Monkey page or Google Doc. People can follow this link where they can submit anonymous confessions. Similar to the popular TV series, Gossip Girl, no one knows who the administrator is and the administrator does not know who is sending in the confessions. This leads to a wide array of rumors and gossip. Some sites set up rules for their users such as no hate speech, no talking about professors, or no specific names. Even with these rules in place, things can escalate and get out of hand very quickly. For example, Aragon High School in San Mateo, California, shut their page down last March after someone posted a threat on their site.

Types of Confession Pages

On these confession pages some students express their emotions: their excitements, troubles, and fears. Other confession pages are shout outs from secret admires often addressing their crush by their name. Some pages describe sexcapades – often times with too much detail. Despite, the mostly negative gossip common on confessions pages, the anonymity of some pages can provide a safe space for people to talk and share their problems. There are some pages where people talk about their eating disorders, their thoughts of suicide, depression, or other struggles. The confessions on these pages are mostly met with support, encouragement, and advice.

Examples

Below are some student confessions, provided by the nytimes.com, pulled from different confession pages of universities across America:

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

• “I hate it when people don’t take their dishes back to the dining hall. I mean, how entitled can you be? People are already washing your plates for you, could you at least have the decency to not make other people carry them back for you?” • “Whenever I get super stressed out about a CS assignment, I buy myself a bunch of lingerie. And yes, I’m a girl. And yes, I sit around in it while I code.”

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, BOULDER

• “I think I’m a Republican now, and I can’t tell any of my friends or anyone else in Boulder, really.”

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, MADISON

• “I think I’m falling in love with a boy who isn’t a Badger, and it terrifies me.” • “Drink Wisconsibly.”

RHODES COLLEGE

• “I put books in random people’s bags so the alarm goes off when they walk out the library.”

BOSTON COLLEGE

• “Sara Towsley from University Counseling Services saved me from killing myself.” • “I honestly feel like a failure. I spent all semester looking for an internship, applied to dozens of places, got interviewed at only one and did not get it. If I cannot get even one, how will I be able to find a real job senior year?” • “I took my Russian final drunk.”