Do anonymous Facebook confession pages contribute valuable dialogue to public discussions? Or are they merely a forum for asinine comments and petty gossip?

The Confessions of a Mustang Facebook page (http://www.facebook.confessionsofastang.com) offered students a chance to anonymously post confessions, grievances, compliments, insults, and general observations. The page exploded in popularity after its creation on Feb. 21 and collected 661 likes before it was shut down around 8 p.m. on Feb. 25.

Many of the confessions seemed to be intended to be humorous, but the power of anonymity also inspired some students to leave relatively nasty and potentially hurtful statements on the page.

The page’s original creator, who asked to remain anonymous, said they made it because they “…wanted just some good clean humor to lighten up this school, but the page spread like wildfire and turned into something much more than that.”

Regarding the question of censorship, the page’s creator was originally editing out posts that used “terrible language.” However, after new moderators took over, posts stop being censored. As a result, one of the last posts on the page contained violent, threatening language, and is speculated to have caused the page’s shutdown.

A high proportion of the confessions were also shout outs to “hotties,” serving as sort of unsigned missed connections-type page.

The page’s original creator felt that the people who left confessions were mostly “…people who are very opinionated and ‘like to have a good time’…I’m sorry to anyone this page has offended,” they said. “…that is one of the main reasons I stepped down.” It remains to be seen whether or not the page will be opened up again at some point in the future.