By Valerie Dunn
Staff Writer
If you’ve ‘liked’ any of the recent pages that have sprung from the idea of Washington College Confessions, your Facebook’s newsfeed is no doubt full of posts confessing deepest loves and drunken nights. Though the original WAC Confessions Facebook page was deleted as a result of posts that were homophobic, crude, or otherwise offensive, anonymous members of the Washington College community have stepped up in its absence.
You can now make anonymous posts under WAC Crushes, WAC Compliments, and a new WAC Confessions page. The WAC Crushes page has 428 likes, the WAC Confessions page has 335 likes, while the WAC Compliments profile boasts 99 friends. Those numbers, continually growing, total to 862, a number which hypothetically comprises approximately half of the student population. The posts thus reflect a wide variety of social groups and majors. Yet, because the posts occur under a unified thread, these Facebook pages serve to reinforce the community aspect of Washington College.
Ironically, the posts also raise potential for division; the pages provide a means of anonymity and subsequently attack without consequence.
Though these pages can ignite a sense of community within a campus, the anonymity of the postings fosters the ideal breeding ground for slurs, insults, and objectification. You barely need to scroll through the WAC Crushes page, for example, to see repulsive examples of objectification. Female and male students are both reduced to their appearance.
Moreover, because these pages are anonymous, they encourage a culture that denies the courage necessary to speak directly to another. Because of this, emotions bottleneck and become overly vicious when finally released. Even when students do express their thoughts, they often do not admit ownership of the very thoughts which make them unique.
A society that cowers from the opinions of others will never shirk ignorance. Similarly, a campus that depends on anonymity to address issues will never become a community. The campus may come together in order to discuss the scandals that have been posted on Facebook, but such a campus will not necessarily come together to defend those bullied by the posts. Lauren Oswald, a senior who follows these pages, took similar issue with the pages.
“Initially I thought they were great ideas and enjoyed reading them. But now I think it’s degrading and unnecessary. People are being cruel and vicious in their comments about other students.”
Of course, the fundamental intent of these pages is not to cause division but to provide entertainment. Indeed, campuses across the nation have created similar pages on Facebook. The entertainment value no doubt comes from reflecting on shared experiences at college. On the surface issue, most of the posts are amusing. The threads may suggest a commonality between the students of a particular college. Some posts are even heartwarming. However, more often than not, anonymous venues such as WAC Confessions serve to fuel tensions and bring otherwise inconsequential issues to the surface.
Oswald acknowledged the danger of this entertainment, “We live in a generation concerned with cyber bullying and as adults we should try and set a better example.”
As Oswald suggests, think before you post on these pages. If you’re having an issue with a specific person or facet of the campus, address that issue in person. If you feel inclined to compliment a fellow member of the community, doing so in person will ultimately generate conversation unobtainable through Facebook. Even the smallest considerations toward another person will foster a sense of community from which WC will ultimately benefit.