I am sure most of us have seen the Pepperdine Confessions page on Facebook. For the most part, other than an occasional confession of a light-hearted blunder or sexually-charged declaration, they are predominantly angry, express some sort of dissatisfaction with campus regulations, or comment on how judgmental or WASPy the campus culture is.
Rhetorically speaking, the page does a couple things right. Students are given an outlet and opportunity to identify with statements that could otherwise get them into trouble. However, confessions are filtered based on how interesting they are, and this inherent need for sensationalism provides a warped perception of campus culture. It’s no fault of the page itself, as the media does the same thing. In fact, as I write this article, I realize that my writing has to contain a certain degree of controversy for it to be worth your time.
But the truth is, most of the campus is nowhere near as dangerous, dangerously unequal, or for lack of a better term, “ratchet” than what we passively consume on this page suggests. Simple, good, deeds are considered uninteresting or unworthy of public interest, but it should not be that way. This is exactly the attitude that makes the Pepperdine Compliments page dormant or occasionally, a popularity contest.
When did we start thinking that simple, personal details were not worth our time?
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Follow Justina Huang on Twitter: @huanderwoman
