For
The recently popular UW-Platteville Confessions Facebook page may be filthy, degrading and downright unpleasant, but it is a freedom students at this and other universities across the nation have decided to take part in.
Anonymous, monitored, confidential and in no way officially affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, the second of two pages dedicated to UW-Platteville’s darker side is running strong with almost 2,000 likes.
According to the ‘About’ tab on the page, “Most posts are monitored, and posts regarding things too illegal will not be posted on the page, mostly things to do with children (under age 18). Anonymity is retained either way.”
Administrators of this page, “The Creator and Batman,” show concern about school administration forcing the page down and whether or not it will draw the eye of law enforcement.
The page also states that if a post is not put on the page it may be because it is too offensive or is a submission calling for a hook up. Basically, if you are submitting a confession, you are putting your words in the hands someone who calls him- or herself Batman.
UW-Platteville is not the only college community that is using similar pages on Facebook. Loras College in Dubuque had a page for 13 hours and it was subsequently deleted because the students called for its removal. Though it was unpopular 20 miles south of here, but the University of Wisconsin-Madison has over 16,000 likes and is still growing.
According to an article by Muge Niu in the Badger Herald of UW-Madison, the university asked the page administrator to take down the school crest because the confessions page is not officially associated with the school.
Since the Platteville page is not on official UW-Platteville social media or corresponding website, there are no actions administration can take against the page creators.
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay also has a page and in an article by Cassandra Duvall, Christoper Sampson, Director of Communications at UW-Green Bay, said some of the posts are supportive.
Reading the UW-Platteville Confessions page, there are posts that are uplifting and supportive of those going through tough times. For posts like this that are not fake or raunchy, those in positions of power at UW-Platteville can use these as tips to what services our students require.
Topics students are speaking out about and could potentially use information on include drug and alcohol abuse, sex education, eating disorders awareness, relationship counseling, suicide awareness and law breaking.
Think of it as a current, localized form of Post Secret, the online secret sharing website. The only difference being that with Post Secret people send secrets on postcards, which are read and then scanned onto the Internet.
The issue here is not whether or not the page is too racy or if school administrators can force the page be removed, but the daily tribulations students are experiencing but are not dealing with.
We should be using this as a tool to better our students, college and community by addressing the different issues portrayed by people that we pass by each day on the sidewalk.
Against
UW-Platteville Confessions page in my opinion is not very awesome.
Other universities, like UW-Platteville, have vulgar types of postings. Just because these schools have confession pages and post explicitly, does not mean UW-Platteville needs to follow suit.
I didn’t think this kind of thing would get out of hand. What harm could there be in admitting a stupid little thing you have done for some laughs? The first time I previewed this new Facebook page, I thought it was hilarious. But as time went on, the posts got crazier. No one seemed to care what they said. I found myself feeling disturbed by what I read.
People shared all sorts of stories, most of them regarding stealing, vandalizing and fornicating all over campus, and many of the incidents involved alcohol. It was no longer portrayed as just “sharing stories.” People are bragging about these ridiculous acts, and looking for the subsequent ‘like.’ This page makes the student body appear to be acting like a bunch of horny idiots who cannot handle their alcohol.
I feel unsafe leaving my car parked in my residence hall lot, knowing what things it may be vulnerable to; it could be keyed by some drunk idiot, defecated on, have the tires slashed and so much more.
You wouldn’t know it by looking around campus, but apparently a lot of students are getting it on, in one place or another. There are an excessive amount of posts about having sex in random places, like a “quickie” in the photography dark room, making love in a closet in the art building’s drawing room or a threesome on the lawn in front of the Markee Pioneer Student Center. I know we are all humans and urges are a common natural experience, but dang, have some decency.
Confessing to stealing campus property. When did that become awesome? Stealing sucks. Reading confessions of theft has me paranoid. I can’t carry my MacBook too class anymore for the fear of someone swiping it for a thrill or pawning. Luckily for the thieves, the posting always stays completely anonymous, but still, people need to think before posting things.
Although, I understand some of these posts may not be true, why would you want to make the more vulgar stories up?
I think the page would be better if it was publishing more uplifting stories that would essentially unite the campus, rather than pit us against each other in disgust. The page administrators could also show a little more discretion, while posters could be more intellectually creative in what they post rather than in raunchiness.
