Between classes Chanesia Johnson studies in the commuter lounge. The temptation of Facebook is too great so she gets on first before hitting the books.
But, once she pulls up the SMU “Confessions” pages, it is difficult for her to divert her attention back to homework.
For Johnson this is typical and like her, many other students are distracted by a new trend called “College Confessions.”
College confessions pages garnered interest this semester, with SMU and other university confessions pages being founded early February 2013.
On Facebook, a student anonymously posts a confession about their university using a link provided by an anonymous administrator. These posts show up on the page and whoever “likes” or “friends” the page can comment on the confessions which is public to anyone who views it.
But, these confessions pages have evolved into forums for complaining, hatred, racism and drama.
The University of Texas at Dallas confession page was shut down by university officials after improper use of the university logo and secondarily for controversy it caused on the UTD campus according to reports by The Mercury, the UTD newspaper. For SMU, the same types of confessional themes are evident.
Posts include subjects joking about the fountains on campus, love confessions and PerunaNet complaints, but other posts steer far left of this direction.
Berit Johnson, a clinical psychologist located on North Central Expressway in Dallas, sees the confessions pages as a “modern manifestation of an old universal need.”
For students entering into highly academic universities like SMU, “what it looks like and what is the outcome is the emphasis,” Johnson said.
“[Students] have to be perfect, wear the right clothes and be successful. There is less curiosity about the internal world [and] it comes at a cost.”
Berit said expressions of loneliness, isolation and depression are common for individuals going through significant life changes. She also said if those types of feelings persist or worsen, you should seek professional help.
“The confessions pages are a way for people to see that these feelings are common. As long as the pages are not a forum for mockery or driving a deeper wedge between [students], it’s a way to open the door about what [students] are suffering. That type of shared vulnerability makes people a community [and] feel more human,” Johnson said.
With the confessions pages, Johnson said it could lead to a cultural healing. People are entering into a relationship in a way.
But, safety in the relationship lies in the commentary of the confessions, according to Johnson.
To combat these issues, Johnson’s greatest advice was to speak about your feelings with someone you trust.
“Discussion can propel you forward when you have to discuss it,” Johnson said.
Student Body President Alex Mace said his biggest concern for the SMU Confessions pages is that they do not know who the administrators are, therefore the rules are unknown and the bias is unknown.
With an unknown administrator and therefore an unknown bias, what is reality and what are lies is indistinguishable.
Student senate has not received an outpouring about the confessions pages, but they are having discussions on how to make SMU more of a community and to improve diversity, according to Mace.
“The idea of citizenship is missing,” Mace said. [SMU communities] don’t arch back into one.”
Mace is working on implementing a value statement for next year. The statement will include themes of personal responsibility and respecting others.
As for the pages, Mace sees them as both good and bad. To him, it sheds a negative light on SMU, but he says he has seen worse. To Mace, the confessions pages are neutral in comparison to the “College ACB” page that was trending when he was a freshman.
It was similar to the SMU Confessions pages now, but Mace said it was unregulated, anonymous and without administrators.
With one trend comes another and with one confessions page come copy cats, sequels and spinoffs.
There are currently three SMU confessions pages on Facebook. And then there was the SMU “Hookups” page.
Ashley Garner, a student, has received praise for protesting this subset to the SMU Confessions pages.
In this page, SMU students “dish” on adventurous sexual escapades or “put people on blast” for awkward sexual relations, according to Garner.
Garner and fellow student Carissa Grisham began protesting this page because they believed it was a place for drama to be publicized and reflected poorly on SMU.
Garner said she received no negative criticism for her demonstration but instead, received positive feedback from friends. She said the administrators of the hookups page were more than cordial.
After 10 minutes the administrators attempted to delete the page and no later than 20 minutes, they apologized to Garner for their actions.
Garner said she likes the original idea of a confessions page but she sees that anonymity can be harmful.
“What are we gaining by gossiping anonymously,” Garner said. “I do not agree with the abuse.”
Bano Ali, a freshman transfer student from the University at Buffalo in New York, said, “the confessions pages are funny but, some are weird.”
Ali said she frequently saw students draw upon racial relations in SMU.
“Yea, like that is messed up. People shouldn’t discriminate. We live in the 21st century,” Ali said.
However, Ali believes no one takes the pages seriously. There may be multiple pages, but, at least one of the confessions pages is wrapping up.
“Just a heads up, SMU confessions will be disabled in two weeks. We will no longer be posting any new confessions,” said a page administrator on March 26.