By Becca Sufrin
Transcript Correspondent
On December 6, 2012, a Facebook page called “OWU Compliments” appeared; since then, the popularity of this page and others similar to it, has exploded.
According to the OWU Compliments description, the page is “an anonymous forum that Bishops may use to thank other students, organizations, staff and faculty members.” Ohio Wesleyan Facebook users can send a private message with their compliment to the page’s inbox or using a Google form. Either way, submitters’ names are kept confidential.
Compliments are sent in at large volumes and published to the site multiple times per day.
Junior Krina Patel, a supporter of the page, said she enjoys the positivity it provides.
“OWU Compliments is such an uplifting page where people can anonymously tell other people how they feel,” she said.
“There is such an exciting air of mystery about getting a compliment written about you because you have no idea who wrote it.”
Recently, two other similar Facebook pages have been created.
One titled “OWU Confessions” was used for confessing anything, positive or negative, to the page’s followers.
Due to the fact that the content did not have to be positive, topics quickly evolved into being extremely controversial.
In just about a week the page received nearly 600 “likes” on Facebook, but as of April 12, the page seems to have been shut down.
Another page called “OWU Confessions Absolutely Anonymous” was created on April 7.
This page was made to reinforce the level of anonymity that other similar pages seemed to lack—it offered a fully anonymous Google form from its inception, while its counterpart didn’t offer such an option at the beginning.
It currently has 492 “likes” and has become a major talking point around campus.
Junior Julia Zak said the increasing importance that others have attached to these pages reflects “the power of social media and the influence it has on our culture today.”
“We fear the natural human response to things that we may be insecure about,” she said. “But in some ways the anonymity is a benefit, because you get a type of catharsis that you might not get if you tell someone something in person.”
Both OWU Compliments and OWU Confessions Absolutely Anonymous are still running pages and many students continue to visit each of the Facebook pages daily to hear more about their fellow OWU students and organizations.