Confession pages provoke mirth, mockery

A crush on a classmate, a rant against a professor, a snarky comment, a declaration of love... ‘Confession’ pages  of colleges seem to have it all.

As increasing number of students scramble to ‘confess’, under psuedonyms of course, colleges find that such pages on Facebook not only provide them with instant feedback, they also give them a feel of the pulse on campus.

From pet peeves to closet secrets, everything is out in the open. Sample this: “Miranda House has made me doubt my sexual orientation even though I'm quite sure that I'm straight!!” (Miranda House Confession #607.) 

“I am really depressed to see that few of my batchmates (won’t take their names, in fact a couple of them) play cheap politics. It is just elections people; it is not WAR.”  (Hindu College Confessions # 644.) 

If you haven’t guessed it already, love is trending big time on these pages. Many ‘Confession’ pages, managed by students, have become a platform to search for ‘lost love’ or make explosive declarations — strictly under cover.

 For instance, “You are the cutest girl on (the) planet. I was the one who sent you red roses on the 8th. I date all hot girls but would love to settle up with you. You’ll make a great wife.” (St Stephen’s Confession #50.) 

Mixed reactions

Despite being followed by hundreds of students and flooded with numerous posts, ‘Confession’ pages are not a universal hit. Vijay Kumar, a former student of Delhi Technological University (formerly Delhi College of Engineering), says: “Half of these so-called confessions are fake. These pages have become like public toilets where people scribble graffiti,” he declares.

Prerna Sharma, from GGSIPU, says: “Soon, these pages will be full of only abusive posts. And soon the trend will fade. Because it has the feature of anonymity, it gives one a platform to say nasty things.”

Madhulika Atri, of Delhi School of Communication (DSC), prefers to look at the positives. “It helps me connect with the college even after I have graduated,” she says, describing the ‘Confession’ page as a “cool move”. 

However, Nikhil, from one of the IITs, says: “This thing is really funny and full of entertainment! But there should be some way to keep abuse outof it.”