By Ben Brown ’14
Photos courtesy of Lafeyette Crushes and Lafayette Compliments
One thousand one hundred forty likes, 965 posts and counting.
Lafayette Confessions, a Facebook page that anonymously posts “confessions” from students, continues to grow, reflecting a national trend.
Pages similar to Confessions: Lafayette Crushes, Compliments, and Problems have become popular among colleges. From the small liberal arts schools of the Northeast to the large state universities of middle America, more of these Facebook pages seem to be popping up. Such pages have increased Generation Y’s communication through social media.
But why are students comfortable revealing their deepest, most intimate secrets and concerns out in the open?
“The appeal is to let your heart out. Let those feelings that you can’t really say to people [out] here,” the administrator of the Lafayette Confessions page said. The admin wished to remain anonymous out of concern that he might face disciplinary action from the Lafayette administration.
Today, Lafayette Confessions rarely boasts the controversial posts it was first known for.
“The content of the confessions have not necessarily gone lighter, but a lot of the hate has subsided,” the admin said. “People are trying to get things off their chests. I’ve definitely seen a lot more nicer quotes.” The admin believes the change in tone occurred when the Lafayette Crushes Facebook page, which anonymously posts heartfelt notes, went live in early April.
Confessions have been of a more heartfelt nature.
“#965: My girlfriend will never love me as much as I love her…. its kinda sad and upsets me a lot. But I know she does love me, so I hold on to that.”
“#962: I love walking on the Quad and seeing my flag flowing freely in the breeze.”
According to Professor J. Christian Tatu, who taught a college writing course on social media, said the anonymity of the submissions adds appeal.
“I don’t think this would work without the secrecy and the anonymity [of the admin and the contributors],” Tatu said. Submitters, he said, would not feel as comfortable sending their confessions to someone they know, even if their submissions are anonymous.
Tatu has appreciated how candid some of the submissions have been.
I find it interesting to speculate who might have left comments like ‘#947: I just killed a giant bee in my room. I felt bad, like I had just committed a murder.’ From what I can read, the anonymous editors of this page are doing some really interesting work,” he said.
“I guess I never realized how much of an appeal it was, compared to what it is now,” the Facebook Confessions admin said.