LETHBRIDGE- Most people just want to feel heard. That’s especially true for the college crowd, except they don’t care who’s listening.
“I think we’re seeing a new generation of sharing where anonymity is the core around which that sharing is based,” said Lethbridge College social media specialist Rod Leland.
School confession pages have been popping up everywhere as social media becomes increasingly popular and Lethbridge College is no exception- mid September its student body became victim to LC Confessions.
“Everybody always has something they want to say but they’re afraid to say it,” said the college’s student association president Kevin Hong. “It’s a way for students to express who they are, and how they feel.”
The brain child of an anonymous administrator, the confessions page quickly garnered the attention of the 18 plus crowd and college staff.
“The discovery of the page was certainly something that concerned a couple people, but very quickly when we got the messaging out and told people this is a very common thing throughout post secondary, and it can actually be a tool for the positive, those concerns were calmed down,” said Leland.
Rumored to have more than one administrator, LC Confessions has started a movement at the college.
While other institutions have condemned the idea, many around the college are actually counting its pro’s rather than focusing on the cons.
“Confessions pages can often give a window into the student mind that isn’t normally brought to the forefront,” added Leland.
A lot of students say they actually find some of the anonymous posts comforting, finding a whole community online who thinks just they like do.
“Everybody has to get something off their chest once in a while,” said Hong. “Regardless if its posting on the internet or writing on a piece of paper.”
But there’s also the grain of salt that comes with airing out dirty laundry.
“If it does affect a student, there’s no way for us to help that student out because again everything is confidential,” Hong added.
College officials add as long as the administrators aren’t violating Facebook’s terms of use, or infringing on college copyright, they have no jurisdiction to request the pages be removed.
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