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, a statement acknowledging personal facts that someone would prefer not be shared, 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.[1] 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.[2]
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. College students in India, New Zealand and Great Britain are beginning to utilize online confession pages, too.[3] One student told Buzzfeed, “Everyone posts so much about themselves. It is sort of disturbing, borderline creepy, but sickly entertaining.”[4] Facebook pages for confessions 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. However, the commentators on these confessions can serve as a support system, offering advice for students coping with depression or other issues. [5] However, this is not always the case. At the high school level, the police asked Facebook to shut down two confession pages due to hatefully and sexually explicit content. [6] At the university level, the concern for school administrators is not bullying but brand protection. 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.”[7] Some universities including San Francisco State have asked their school's confession pages to discontinue the use of their school logos, photos, and iconic buildings. [8] Universities do not want outsiders to attribute the negative discussions on confession pages to an actual depiction of their school and campus life.
Since these confession pages 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.” [9]Even if a page is shut down, another person can easily create another confessions page. Students that set up these pages must use their real identity when creating the page, but can conceal their identity when managing posts. [10] Facebook does routinely review pages and responds to complaints about the content removing inappropriate posts or if necessary shutting down the page completely.
How it Works
Confession pages are created when an administrator (most often a student) sets up a Facebook 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. [12]
Beyond, Facebook confessions pages, Twitter confessions pages are also becoming popular. For example, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, student have created a page called @umichcrushes. Twitter confession pages work in a similar manner as facebook confessions pages, where an administrator sets up a Survey Monkey or Google Doc and user anonymously write their confessions. The administrator of that page then reads through the posts and chooses what to post. Facebook still remain the most popular medium for confession pages. [13]
How to Create a Facebook Confession Page
According to Useful Trick blog, these are the simple steps you can follow to create a Facebook Confession Page: “ Creating a Facebook confession page is easy, just follow these simple steps:[14]
1. Log into your Facebook account and click on Home.
2. On the left side-bar menu, select Like Pages. Now, click on the button at the top which says Create Page.
3. Select Cause or Community and name your page. Eg. XYZ Confessions.
4. After getting started, put an an appropriate cover and display picture. It is usually the logo or a picture showing the name of your organization.
5. Now you are over with the Facebook page and you need to link it to the anonymous form."[15]
How to Create a Twitter Confession Page
1. Go to twitter.com and follow the steps to create a new account
2. Link your anonymous form (instructions on how to create them below) to the description of your Twitter page. You can do this under Settings, click on Profile, then pasting your link under the Bio section.
3. Read the anonymous submissions and tweet what you believe is appropriate for your site.
How to Create an Anonymous Google Doc
According to Useful Trick blog, these are the simple steps you can follow to create an anonymous confession form using Google Docs:[16]
"To create and link a form using Google Docs:
1. Go to https://docs.google.com and sign into your Google account.
2. Click on Create and select the Form option.
3. Choose the desired theme and fill the complete form.
4. Now, click on Add Item and select Paragraph Text.
5. Customize the blank fields and save.
6. Click on View Live Form and copy the URL. You may shorten this URL using goo.gl .
7. Click on Choose Response Destination and select New Spreadsheet. Name your form and save it.
8. Paste this URL along with some info about your page in the About Me section on Facebook and you are done!
A Google Doc file will be created. Whenever someone fills that form on your Facebook page, you will get a message on that file. Just copy the confession from the spreadsheet and paste it on your page along with a confession number.” [17]
How to Create an Anonymous Survey Monkey
1. Go to https://surveymonkey.com and sign into your Survey Monkey account.
2. Click on Create and choose the desired theme and fill the complete form.
3. After you have created the questions you want to ask, configure the options under the Change Settings button to not track IP addresses.
4. Scroll to the Save IP Address in Results? section and choose to not save the IP addresses in the Analyze section.
According to surveymonkey.com, by turning off Save IP Address, "As responses come in, they will be marked as a Normal Response in the Response Type field. There will be no name or email associated with them. The IP collection can be turned off at any time, even after the data collection has begun. However, this will not clear any IP addresses already collected (i.e. these will still be visible if you export your data into the All Responses Collected format but not if you browse results through the web interface.) If IPs are turned on again later, only new responses going forward will store them." [18]
Confession Page Content
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 from universities across America:[20]
• “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.”
• “I put books in random people’s bags so the alarm goes off when they walk out the library.”
• “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.” "[21]
References
http://mashable.com/2013/03/19/facebook-confessions/
- ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/27/confessions-facebook-page-cu-boulder-students_n_2962252.html
- ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/27/confessions-facebook-page-cu-boulder-students_n_2962252.html
- ^ http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_22817076/students-tell-all-anonymous-facebook-confession-pages
- ^ http://www.buzzfeed.com/justinesharrock/the-stange-world-of-high-school-confession-pages
- ^ http://mashable.com/2013/03/19/facebook-confessions/
- ^ http://mashable.com/2013/03/19/facebook-confessions/
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/education/edlife/campus-confessions-pages-are-on-the-rise.html?_r=0
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/18/us-usa-facebook-confess-idUSBRE92H0X720130318
- ^ http://www.buzzfeed.com/justinesharrock/the-stange-world-of-high-school-confession-pages
- ^ http://mashable.com/2013/03/19/facebook-confessions/
- ^ http://www.buzzfeed.com/justinesharrock/the-stange-world-of-high-school-confession-pages
- ^ http://www.buzzfeed.com/justinesharrock/the-stange-world-of-high-school-confession-pages
- ^ http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_22817076/students-tell-all-anonymous-facebook-confession-pages
- ^ http://useful-trick.blogspot.com/2013/04/post30.html#.Uxiau9iA1Ms
- ^ http://useful-trick.blogspot.com/2013/04/post30.html#.Uxiau9iA1Ms
- ^ http://useful-trick.blogspot.com/2013/04/post30.html#.Uxiau9iA1Ms
- ^ http://useful-trick.blogspot.com/2013/04/post30.html#.Uxiau9iA1Ms
- ^ http://help.surveymonkey.com/articles/en_US/kb/How-do-I-make-surveys-anonymous
- ^ http://www.buzzfeed.com/justinesharrock/the-stange-world-of-high-school-confession-pages
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/education/edlife/campus-confessions-pages-are-on-the-rise.html?_r=0
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/education/edlife/campus-confessions-pages-are-on-the-rise.html?_r=0
 | This World Wide Web–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |