CAMED BUSINESS JOURNALISM CLUB

Humorous posts, controversial content, and most of all, idiotic arguments; the CamEd confession page has it all. With over 5,000 likes, this Facebook page is very well-known among students and even outsiders due to the variety of content that is published on the page.

But how did this page become so popular among both insiders and outsiders? Well, to answer this we must understand the idea behind the page’s creation in the first place. The aim of the page is to have a platform for students to say or ask whatever they want while remaining anonymous.

Although some confessions may be more useful than others, the aspect of anonymously saying what you want to say is the reason why a lot of students are very fond of the page. No one will ever know who you are as that information is hidden. Even information on the page’s creators and the page’s administrators is a mystery. There are even conspiracies galore revolving around who actually runs the page.

We dove into the unsaid thoughts of the confession page, asking eight students and one lecturer about their personal thoughts on the page. Before these interviews, the individual perspectives of students on the confession page were still confidential, as people don’t openly share their opinions or ideas about the confession page.

Fair share of supporters and haters

The confession page has its fair share of supporters and haters, but one of the page’s trademarks is the countless dramatic confessions that occur every now and then which makes the page interesting to its viewers. The CamEd Business Journalism Club organized a team to go down to the campus and conduct a live interview with students to find out their views on the page.

When asked about their experience with the page, one of the interviewees responded:

I don’t necessarily use it, I just see it on my feed. I tend to read it when I’m interested sometimes

This was a common thread among our interviewees as most of them never actually confessed anything on the page.

Even though this is the case, the majority of our interviewees actually think the page is good for students as it provides a platform for people to express themselves as well as bridge juniors and seniors together.

Juniors can seek help from seniors directly through the page. One junior even said:

As a junior, we were not quite sure how to prepare for exams.
So, when they [seniors] share their experiences, lesson plans, and notes with us, we can be better prepared for the challenges beforehand.

With a platform that can be accessed by anyone, the page’s visitors get a mixed bag of content. As the page grew in popularity, it strayed from its intended purpose. Users started to forget about school-related matters and focused more on drama.

As one of our interviewees, lecturer Matthew Leigh, puts it:

Things like these are destined to happen on the internet.
The only thing I’m worried about is intense cyberbullying and people hiding behind their anonymity

The page has a mixed bag of content

This brings us to the main setback of the page, which is cyberbullying. We can safely say that while conducting our interviews, the responses regarding the negative side of the confession page were mostly related to cyberbullying.

I would say that most teachers don’t actually know about the page”,
said Leigh when asked about the professor’s awareness of the page.

According to our survey, the majority of respondents think that there are some teachers who might be aware of its existence.

Some teachers are Facebook friends with students, for example, and may glimpse it when it’s shared. Some teachers even talk about posts from this anonymous page with their students, usually for amusement. However, it is believed that most professors might not know about it or simply don’t care about the page.

A confession page isn’t unusual to see nowadays as the internet is a place to express your thoughts and feelings.

Doing this directly can be intimidating, and the internet allows for the convenience of confessing behind a keyboard.

It became apparent during our interviews that other schools also have pages like this one. IFL, NUM, ACE, and RUPP have confession pages as well, which are much bigger and more popular than the CamEd confession page.

There is an ongoing discussion as to whether there should be any changes made to the page. As we already know, the confession page isn’t necessarily about good content. It’s more about people expressing their opinions about different topics.

Harsh comments can affect the person in question

As suggested by some respondents, the page owner should check the confessions before posting them for sensitive information, hate speech, defamation, and other negative content which would cause backlash or harm.

However, there are other responses that say that the page doesn’t need to be managed further because it’s supposed to be an open space where students can confess their feelings anonymously.

The range of diverse themes covered on the CamEd confession page has drawn a contrast of reactions. Although opinions differ, it is these differences that make this page so engaging. Some of the people interviewed said the page is good because it serves as a source of comfort, amusement, and education.

Other interviewees, however, appeared to hold opposite opinions about the confession page, claiming that its content is improper and stray from the page’s original intent of being used for school-related matters, and distract students’ attention with unnecessary drama.

There is no right or wrong simply because people’s perspectives differ. The page is still active and maintains a steady legion of followers, regardless of what individuals may think. Given that it is anonymous, people may believe it is acceptable to expose someone or speak negatively about someone.

Before confessing, people should be mindful because those harsh comments can affect the person in question in the long run. On top of that, the admin should filter or review confessions before allowing them to be published to avoid any potential cyber abuse.

At the end of the day, we hope that the page’s admins will be able to provide educational benefits students seek while also providing a sense of entertainment for viewers and comfort to those looking to confess. We would like to conclude this by asking you, the reader, should it be modified? If not, what do you think will happen if things continue as they are?