In an age when cyber-bullying has become a big problem, a couple of Connecticut College students have taken it upon themselves to spread the love across campus—virally. Two Conn students who would prefer to remain anonymous have created an account on Facebook under the name “Conn Coll Compliments” (CCC).
These two students created Conn Coll Compliments on November 21, 2012 and ever since have been posting kind words about members of the student body that have been submitted by their peers. In the three short months that the Facebook account has existed, Conn Coll Compliments has become friends with 812 Connecticut College students.
The students who operate the page got the idea from other universities like Dartmouth College and Queens College which have started similar programs. They liked the idea of starting one at Conn because they feel it will help contest the negativity of Conn Coll Confessional, a forum in which students can post anonymous complaints about other students and various aspects of campus life.
The two students who run Conn Coll Compliments post all compliments that are submitted to them and say that they have never received any rude comments. If they were to receive any nasty comments, these would not be posted. Their favorite comments to post are the ones about people whom the writer of the compliment may not know very well.
“We love all compliments given, but we particularly like compliments given from maybe not a really close friend but sort of an acquaintance who observes positive deeds and friendliness from a far [sic] and uses CCC as a way to recognize other’s positive contributions to Conn,” wrote the administrators in a Facebook message.
Many students, including Emma Weisberg, have been mentioned on the Facebook page, and the kind words shared by their friends positively impact their day. Weisberg’s roommate told her that she had been mentioned on Conn Coll Compliments on January 28, 2013. Someone anonymously posted, “Emma Weisberg always has the happiest and most friendly smile whenever I see her. She’s so talented in so many ways and is definitely one of the greatest people here!”
Weisberg was delighted when she found out that someone had submitted something about her to Conn Coll Compliments. “It brightened my day to know that someone had just taken a little bit of time out of their day to spread kindness to others around them, especially if they didn’t feel they could ever say it in person.”
Weisberg likes the intention behind Conn Coll Compliments and hopes that over time, the mission behind the Facebook page will encourage students to give their peers words of kindness in person on a regular basis.
“Just a simple ‘you look beautiful today’ or ‘that was such an insightful comment in class’ does more than we realize,” she said.
