Finding the newest information on campus can be difficult. With the help of the Facebook page Marquette Confessions and Secrets, students are able to share and comment on a wide variety of content. The site has reached over 1,500 likes thus far, with students posting many times throughout each day.
Each post on the Confessions news feed is anonymous, so users have the chance to share personal issues, questions or humorous anecdotes for others to read and respond to.
However, posting to the page does not mean free reign. Content must be truthful, personal and not contain too much information that could personally identify an individual student or group.
Although Marquette Confessions at the onset seems like another frivolous page from a bored student, Joe Tomaselli, a junior in the College of Business Administration, explained that the page can start in-depth conversations that would not have happened otherwise.
“It provides a platform to bring forward very important disputed issues affecting people on campus,” Tomaselli said. “I remember last year there was a heated debate over whether jet fuel fire could melt steel beams. We had all types of students with different backgrounds (i.e. engineering, physics, etc.) provide arguments to shed light on the issue.”
Tomaselli saw the benefits of the site and how students could easily connect with the relatable content that is posted.
“It brings people together and gives students the opportunity to encounter people they wouldn’t normally meet,” he said.
Marquette Confessions allows students to post witty information for others to praise, criticize or groan at. Nick Stanko visits the site for its funny content and the openness it allows students.
“It gives freedom to students to express their voice and at the same time be comical, to a certain extent,” Stanko, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, said.
Some students like College of Arts & Sciences sophomore Audrey Rife do not see much merit in the social media account.
“I think it’s a neat way to anonymously post something involving the Marquette campus,” Rife said. “I dislike the fact some people use it to ostracize students or to talk about political and religious issues with no backing. I think it’s a fun thing to have available for students, but I don’t think it’s beneficial. It’s just for fun, similar to Yik Yak. It can get mean, but I don’t see that too often, thankfully.”
The page allows for students to connect and converse freely with one another on issues around campus. However, the freedom of being anonymous can cause problems. Laura Starck, a senior in the College of Health Sciences, said the negative posts can be hurtful to students and the university’s image because of racist, sexist or otherwise hateful language.
The phenomenon started when the original Marquette Confessions page was set up in August of 2013. Eventually, a new page was started because the administrator in charge of the site did not filter the content well enough and that the individual “would post things that would be controversial for the purpose of shock value and entertainment,” Starck claims. Facebook deactivated the administration of the page in July of 2014. The Marquette Confessions and Secrets page opened a month later under a new administrator, who promised to review all content before posting.
“A lot of people would enjoy seeing the ‘fighting.’ I would often comment because I didn’t like the idea of people using anonymity to lampoon others,” Starck said. “Teasing a roommate is OK, but some of the content the page would post was unacceptable. I do believe in freedom of speech. However, I also believe that it should not be used to hurt others.”
Though the site has a history of offensive material, Starck admitted that it contains interesting content and that it has improved since the change in administration.
“It can be fun to share silly stories about stuff that’s happened around campus,” Starck said. “It can be kind of fun because you can share it and people won’t know who you are or know who you’re talking about.”
Tomaselli said he actively participates on the site because “nothing can ever trump the rush I get when somebody likes my funny comment on a Confessions post.”
Another site promoted by the Confessions page is marquettelove.com, a dating site catered specifically to Marquette students. After users sign up, they can browse other profiles based on their interests and communicate with other users for free to “see if that special someone is walking the same street as you are today.”
Many students seemed to have never heard of such a site and were surprised by the fact that a site such as marquettelove.com exists. Others had heard of the site, but had not used it personally.
“It seems far-fetched but it is a good idea,” Stanko said. “You never know who is out there. If the time is right, you may just find the right one for you.”
The number of Marquette students who use this site is unknown, but some seem willing to explore the site to see what it has to offer. These two sites give students the opportunity to share their opinions, stories of the university and anything in between.
Best of Marquette Confessions
Sometimes I pray longer after mass just to walk out with the cute girl that prays forever.
Is it just me, or when someone on here brags about their sex life I automatically assume they never get any?
Of course the day I find enough nerve to try to sit next to my crush she doesn’t show up to class.
I just want someone to teach me how to play poker…
I think I have fallen for my best friend. But I know for a fact he does not like me in that way, and probably never will. I guess I will just have to suck it up and try to take my mind off of him. I value his friendship too much to ruin it with a crush.
Mashuda DRs are on point this year. Hot damn. I just love coming home and knowing one of you will be waiting there to swipe me in
Just got kicked off ChristianMingle.com, apparently LuciferLover666 wasn’t an appropriate name.
To the girl that wears yoga pants, Ugg boots and a North Face I’m in love with you. There’s no one else on this campus quite like you.
Sometimes, as a junior, I go to classic freshman parties to pick up freshman and sophomore boys. Awkward that my main motivation is to get a meal swipe….
I made out with a hotdog. It was one time.
One weekend last year my roommate was forcing me to drink water. Me being the stubborn drunk I of course refused saying “I’m not that drunk”. What I remember is chasing him down the hallway. What I didn’t know was that while I was chasing him down the hallway and throwing the water at him. I was also screaming “THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!!”
I’m a full time student, but I think I spend more time waiting in line at Walgreen’s than I do in class.
Been here six or so months. Still no sign of parmesan on the “chicken parm” at Schroeder.