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 Linda Thomas
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Linda is the morning news anchor and features reporter for KIRO Radio. This is her local news blog, with an emphasis on social media, technology, Northwest companies, education, parenting, and anything else that grabs her attention.

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"I haven't worn underwear since winter break. Life is better commando." That's among the college confessions from a UW student on a Facebook page dedicated to spilling secrets. (Linda Thomas file UW photo)

College confessions - what UW and WSU students admit online

March 18, 2013 @ 5:47 pm (Updated: 10:01 am - 3/19/13 )

"I haven't worn underwear since winter break. Life is better commando."

"I throw my dead goldfish out my dorm window at people walking by."

"This school was my last choice."

"I've stolen about $1,000 worth of clothing, and food within the last year. I also feel little remorse about it."

Those statements are from UW and WSU students. They're part of the anonymous college confessions craze going through Facebook.

Anonymous and Facebook don't usually go together. To get around the Facebook requirement that users be real people sharing a true identity (right), these confessions are sent to a page administrator through Survey Monkey or other sites that allow for anonymity.

College pages from the UW and WSU stand their own, and feed into a larger confessions group on Facebook.

Similar high school pages have been shut down, out of concern for bullying. The worry at the college level is a bit different - the confessions aren't the kind of PR they're looking for.

A few confession sites have been asked to stop using school symbols and photographs of iconic buildings. WSU Confessions uses a logo, and the UW Confessions page has a recognizable shot of the campus.

Disapproval from some colleges has actually caused the fad to gain some attention this month.

As you would imagine, most of the posts are crude, rude, obnoxious and sexual.

What makes this oddly addictive is the occasional comment that evokes a feeling we can relate to, even though it's not our situation.

"I'm so extremely scared for the future, can we just fast forward to graduation so I know what's in store for me?

"My parents are spending their life savings on my education, when it should have been for my brother who died five years ago today. He was the smart one."

"I'm never going to be able to pay off my loans."

As you know, I support anonymous comments. Hmmm, anything you want to confess?

By LINDA THOMAS

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (9)


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  • ron prevost wrote...
    Linda, you are about the only one posting new these days - and Dave won't be back for another week ???
    March 18, 2013 8:05 pm
    Miss his daily mistaken ideas, posted most always with a quip joke at the end.

    SO.......... Why don't we start tomorrow with responses to what Dave WOULD have posted, had he not been on vacation in the modern nation of Cuba. Most of us by now could predict Dave's post ahead of time, so just read the morning paper and go from there.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hpygolkyone wrote...
    Oh Ron...........
    March 18, 2013 8:30 pm
    You're just being silly.

    Why are you commenting about Dave Ross on Linda's blog?

    Linda is the only one who is posting her own material on her own blog. Everyone else seems to have their own blog with their name splashed across the heading.....but when you cruise down to see who authored the particular article, it's almost never the blog host.

    Bonus points for Linda Thomas.

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  • TheNewsChick wrote...
    Dave's return
    March 19, 2013 1:22 am
    Now I must confess, I was wrong about Dave's vacation dates. He's actually back Thursday! Looking forward to his stories. (Bonus points, a good way to start the day.)
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ron prevost wrote...
    Yes - and Linda posts every day. .........
    March 19, 2013 5:30 am
    Unlike a couple of others who last posted 2-3 weeks ago.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • roomtemp wrote...
    "Hmmm, anything you want to confess?"
    March 18, 2013 9:05 pm
    Yeah... I missed your voice on my radio in the morning and I'm glad you're back on the air.

    Like Ron, I even miss Ross a little and I secretly hope Cuba gives him back. (Don't tell the little guy though. Wouldn't want him to get a big head. hehehe)

    Dang!, I forgot to create a sockpuppet account and bounce it off three proxies to post this. So much for my anonymity. ;-)

    Unlike a lot of people, you will find me saying the exact same things to your face in real life that I do under an anonymous nickname on the internet. I just view names as unimportant, only ideas are, and don't think it's wise to expose yourself to the various scam artists out there.

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  • Ron_Spins wrote...
    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/18/ucf-explosive-death-flordia/1996117/
    March 19, 2013 12:00 am
    Confess why you (a student) would want to build bombs , amass guns and ammo and attack other students and school staff......Thank you for participating.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Citizen of Krazy Town wrote...
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
    March 19, 2013 7:08 am
    no :-|
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  • mnpat wrote...
    "Those statements are from UW and WSU students. They're part of the anonymous college confessions craze going through Facebook. "
    March 19, 2013 7:36 am
    Sure happy for these young men and women that they have the time to post and we have a large portion of society doing such wonderful things they are proud of....and just can't say enough about a system that enables them to do so, and of course the media that wants us all to know that it is there, so we can consume the mental state of the lost generation concieved of single parents/absent parents/I got better things to do parents.
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  • Oly80 wrote...
    meh...
    March 19, 2013 9:34 am
    those "confessions" are probably made up for entertainment's sake a good deal of the time.

    my question is, why do the colleges think this is bad pr? what do they actually have to say about these sites?

    they're harmless. whatever.

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