Facebook recently became host to two controversial new pages where students post “confessions” or “missed connections” anonymously for others to read.
A page called “Idaho State University Confessions” showed up on Facebook in early February, following suit with many other universities around the region including Boise State University and Washington State University. Shortly after, a second anonymous page similar in structure called “Bengal Missed Connections” appeared.
Many ISU students have viewed, commented on, posted on or “liked” one or both of these pages and much discussion has been sparked on campus in regard to what goes on with them.
The Idaho State University Confessions page, now deactivated, was approaching 1,000 “likes” at the time it was removed last week. The Bengal Missed Connections page had 186 “likes” as of Sunday, March 17.
The administrator of the “Idaho State University Confessions” page declined to interview or comment but asked a friend who reportedly assisted with the page to comment.
The assistant, who asked to remain anonymous, is a student at ISU who said the page was taken down by page administrators because they felt it had gotten out of hand. As of right now there are no plans to reactivate it.
The assistant explained, “These confessions pages were popping up for basically every other school in the region and we just thought that it might be cool that Idaho State start making a name for itself, just socially, so some of us just decided to take that first step and make the page.”
The assistant said in the end many of the posts didn’t fall in line with what the administrators and creators originally had in mind.
“The idea was for students to post fun stuff that people wouldn’t necessarily say in conversation to entertain students,” said the assistant. “But like the [dance team and cheerleaders] and what happened with that stuff, the administrators just made a mistake and weren’t paying attention and that post kind of slipped through the cracks.”
The post the assistant referred to was one made anonymously on the “Idaho State University Confessions” page that accused the ISU “dancers/cheerleaders/whoever you are” of being mean or disrespectful to a special needs person, according to the person who posted. The post garnered a lot of attention, getting hundreds of “likes” and many comments. According to the assistant, it prompted the page administrators to monitor posts more closely and disallow hateful or discriminatory posts.
Messages requesting comments on the post and the pages were sent to the Facebook pages of the Bengal Dancers and Bengal Cheerleaders but no response was received.
“That’s why the page was taken down, there’s just so much stuff and so many posts and it was getting out of hand,” said the assistant.
The “Bengal Missed Connections” page is still up and running on Facebook. The page administrator and creator, who asked to remain anonymous, is a student at ISU. They are not affiliated or connected with the “Idaho State University Confessions” page.
The administrator said via Facebook the page was created to give students a chance to voice their feelings anonymously for another person.
“It gives people the opportunity to compliment someone else or confess feelings that they may be too shy to express in person,” wrote the administrator. “Whether that shyness is due to a lack of confidence, the fear of potential rejection or any other reason, they can get their thoughts off their chest [through the page].”
The “Confessions” assistant and the “Bengal Missed Connections” administrator both said that the pages were not meant to represent or promote ISU in any way.
University officials echoed this point.
Mark Levine, ISU director of Marketing and Communications, responded to an interview request via email stating that there really wasn’t much to say about the pages.
“There really isn’t anything to say on the issue,” wrote Levine. “One of the great things about living in the U.S. is the right to say and post nearly anything. I know ISU isn’t the only school with these ‘confessions.’ I would hope people realize that while some of these things might have a basis of truth, much of it is an attempt to top a posting with another outrageous posting. Hopefully people see ISU for what it is, an outstanding educational institution where students truly do come first.”
Vice President of Student Affairs Pat Terrell said she had no thoughts or opinion whatsoever on the pages because the pages have no correspondence or affiliation with the university.
“It is not an ISU sponsored activity. We have no control over what people post, and posts are anonymous,” said Terrell. “It’s a non-issue as far as we’re concerned.”
She added, “ISU cannot control what people say any more than any other university. With anonymity comes irresponsibility. I don’t pay attention to anything that is anonymous.”
While still active, the Idaho State University Confessions page included a disclaimer that stated the page was not affiliated with Idaho State University. The Bengal Missed Connections page has a similar disclaimer.
“The [“Missed Connections”] page simply displays peoples’ positive opinions about other people,” said the page’s administrator.
ASISU President Matt Bloxham said he thinks that as long as “things stay cordial,” the pages can be a great outlet for students to voice their opinions on campus.
“I would prefer [students] come and give us a few opinions on things that could be changed in the ASISU comment box but I do check out the page especially in the past week since I’ve discovered it just to see what the issues and concerns of students primarily are and to see if any of those concerns can be addressed on our end,” explained Bloxham.
Bloxham noted that ISU isn’t the only university to have these pages.
“I would hope that our students are keeping in mind that when they’re posting they are representing the university as long as it’s labeled and named what it is and the photos on there are what they are, they’re connected to the university one way or another,” said Bloxham.
“My request to the students, to the administrators of the page, use a bit of fortitude on what you’re going to post or what you allow to hit the page,” said Bloxham. “Be mindful of those things. You know, are you being malicious, can this hurt a certain individual? If it can, probably leave it off. It shouldn’t be aimed and directed at damaging anyone’s life. If anything it should just be aimed at having fun and talking about university and student issues.”
Shane McMichael was an active participant on the “Confessions” page.
McMichael said he commented on the page because it was amusing to him and his friends.
“I think it can be relatively harmless with a few bad eggs but I think you will find that anywhere in any group, whether on Facebook or not,” said McMichael in a Facebook message. “I also think that there are a lot of people who lie on there about things that are done, probably trying to impress people, but I feel the main purpose is amusement. For years people have read textsfromlastnight.com, fmylife.com, or even funny autocorrects online. I feel this is just a community-oriented version of any of those websites.”
ISU College of Arts and Letters Senator Emma Doupé said she hadn’t posted on any of the pages but she feels they are a fun way for students to make comments to the university as a whole.
“In general I just think they’re really fun,” said Doupé.
“I think there are definitely downsides, you know, you get into the realm of what’s appropriate or what’s offensive,” explained Doupé. “There are appropriate and inappropriate things to say but we’re all adults here and the administrators of the page should be monitoring what actually makes it on the page. It’s their responsibility and at their discretion to decide what’s appropriate or not appropriate.”
Many students agreed with McMichael and Doupé and said they found the pages “amusing,” “fun,” or “interesting to read,” however some feel the pages are just the opposite and said they should have never been created or need to be removed.
Tucker Daley said he feels the entire “confessions” page was a “sick joke.”
“People have enough on their plates. We’re in college, we have enough stress,” said Daley. “We don’t need people talking behind [other people’s] backs.”
Daley said he was happy to see the page disappear. He said he found it disturbing that people can say things about other people “who they probably don’t even know.”
Daley added, “It just seemed like people trying to get attention but at the same time not because it’s anonymous. It’s a very slippery slope that leaves you asking just, ‘why?’”
Regarding the “Bengal Missed Connections” page, Daley said he feels that people shouldn’t be afraid to talk to other people face to face and he doesn’t see a need for the page.
Like the “Idaho State University Confessions” assistant, the “Missed Connections” administrator also noted that many other connections and confessions pages have come up for various schools and all have had basically the same content.
“Boise State has both a confessions and connection page. The BSU connections page is almost identical to this one, as far as content is concerned, except that it has about 2,000 [“likes”],” said the “Missed Connections” administrator. “I wish this page could get a following like that.”
The administrator added, “I’ve personally seen both this page and Boise’s page make a positive impact on the people that get mentioned. It’s even led to a date or two, so you never know what could come out of it in the end!”
ISU student Hailey Gross was mentioned or tagged in several posts and comments on the pages. She said that while she thinks the pages likely had good intentions, she feels the whole thing is “creepy.”
“I almost feel like it promotes stalking,” said Gross. “I have mixed feelings. I mean, yeah, it’s funny and all good fun but sometimes I feel it gets a little creepy especially when people know who or where you are and when and that kind of stuff but you don’t know them.”
Gross added that anyone can take anything and make it bad but she doesn’t think the creators made the pages with any sort of malicious intent.
The “Idaho State University Confessions” page assistant said, “The school should know, the student body should know, that [the confessions page] was created by students, for students, meant to be separate from the actual university. It was really just a place for students of Idaho State to confess interesting and entertaining stories. I think maybe there’s a big misconception around campus that people thought that it was set up by the university or that it was set up to be hateful or to bully but it really did not start like that, it was just an idea to maybe spark a new attitude around the school but it didn’t really end up that way.”