Alison Rodriguez
Staff Writer
Young people are flocking to social media sites to express their concerns, complaints and opinions, often behind the safety of anonymity. Facebook pages, such as the student-created “ULV Confessions” page and “ULV Meme” page have caused quite a stir on campus and on the Web.
Fifteen students were interviewed and asked to express their thoughts about these pages.
“I think the idea behind it was innocent in nature and for fun, but from what I’ve heard it has since turned into an outlet for otherwise inexpressible conversation,” sophomore international studies major Barron Omega said.
According to the confessions administrator, the confessions page was created in spring of 2013. The intentions of the page was to have a place where students could express themselves anonymously.
Both pages became notorious within a few short hours. The confessions page in particular was banned three separate times until the administrators came up with a better solution with stricter guidelines.
“The confession pages are being abused, people are using them to hurt people,” senior art major Brittani Mitchell said. “The meme pages are hilarious though, like completely true.”
“I think it’s stupid,” senior psychology major C.J. Krickl said. “It’s a way for people to feel better about themselves while putting others down. It’s not really talking about the school, it’s talking about the people.”
The general vibe ebbing from the campus is that the “confessions” may have been taken too far, while the memes are spot-on, but that is not the case for everyone.
“I only really use the pages when I’m bored or when I want to find something funny about our school,” second-year computer science and music major Brandon Shulkin said. “It’s nice to know our school has a sense of humor and isn’t so uptight.”
The administrator of the confessions page stepped forward to say a few words about its place in social networking.
“This page has just been a great forum for those who dislike or like certain aspects of their lives at home and at school,” the confessions admin said. “It thereby creates an avenue through which issues may be solved, or at least heard.”
“I think it’s a good way to express certain concerns about the school, however I don’t think its okay to bash other individuals and organizations,” junior psychology major Steven Castellanos said. “It’s a good page to get the uncensored facts and opinions of others.”
The pages are still up and running, with new posts being presented to the general public day by day. Only time will tell whether or not the morale of the pages will improve over time.
Alison Rodriguez can be reached at alison.rodriguez2@laverne.edu.
