“The biggest privilege of my life” - Stepping Away from Meaningful Confessions

By Darcy Lawrey (he/him)

“VuW: Meaningful Confessions” is a bit of a Vic institution. Scrolling through the page’s posts you’ll come across heartfelt confessions of love at first sight in tutorials, late-night mental health rants, and detailed descriptions of exactly what’s floating in the bowl of a Hunter building toilet. Having gained 11 thousand followers over the years, the page is an outlet for the masses’ pettiest, horniest, and most unhinged thoughts. 

However, last Monday, the page’s anonymous administrator announced that they’re calling it quits. In a post on the page, they explain that their submission box has become largely full of Salient ‘critiques’ and rants about noise in the library’s blue zones. With the 2-3 hours of daily work moderating the page takes in their now busy schedule, the time has come to pass the page along or bring it to a close.

Current administrator, Anon*, had been into the Facebook page scene since 2013, and signed up to moderate Meaningful Confessions in 2020, partially motivated by the urge to delete a risky confession declaring their crush on a fellow student. They joined a diverse group of four students who ran the account, picking out the most entertaining submissions for publication. 

Gradually, however, the team fell away. “It was very vibrant, but the issue was the law student. She finished first year and suddenly everything got serious. […] everyone just sort of dropped off”, Anon explains, “I didn’t have a very good succession plan, I just kept going and going.” Six years later, and now in a public sector career out of Wellington, it’s their time to step away too.

Anon’s time running the page has had quite an impact on them. Moderating Wellington’s hidden thoughts and feelings over the years has led them to see that underneath the horniness and anger, “there was this genuine depth to people that you didn't quite get outside.” They believe that “everyone’s a lot more emotional than [they] like to put out.” 

A few submissions stick out to Anon over the years, like the guy who couldn’t put up with his girlfriend playing Taylor Swift while they had sex, and the series of back and forth confessions between two library-goers telling each other to “shut the fuck up” in the blue zone. 

But underneath the humour, Anon says that they have found running Meaningful Confessions, personally, pretty meaningful – “it's been probably the most impact I've ever had on people and potentially might ever have on people”. Not just a place for airing out their grievances, the page has connected people with help when they need it most. Anon reckons it has acted as a bit of a back door to getting support, especially when the machinery of the university can be a bit of an “unfailing monolith”. 

Self-described as a “bit of a background character” who didn’t exactly throw themselves at student life, the page became a way for them to impact a lot of people in ways which individuals “never could have by themselves”. Anon feels incredibly grateful for the experience to have had such a reach into the world. While they’re sad to be leaving, they’re planning to suss out the candidates and pass on the mantle on to a new team of students. If you think you’ve got what it takes, flick the page a message. 

* Name changed