The following was written by Sarah Huckins ’14 as an open letter to the creator of Conn Coll Compliments. The use of “anonymous” is for effect, only.
Dear Anonymous,
This isn’t to find out who you are. Maybe you’ve graduated. Maybe you’re abroad. Maybe you just found it too time consuming. It doesn’t matter. This isn’t to lament that Conn Coll Compliments is no longer active, although I do really miss it, it’s to be grateful that it once was.
And, if you, or anyone else reading this, have managed to remain blissfully ignorant of what Conn Coll Confessional is, I’m loathe to bring it to your attention, but it serves as a stark contrast to Conn Coll Compliments. I’ve never been to the site before so I can’t give a firsthand account. But I’ve heard enough people talk about it to know the premise, a site that allows people to anonymously post anything about anyone, and to know the kind of hurtful commentaries it breeds.
So I want to thank you for providing me with an antithesis to Conn Coll Confessional, for giving me, and others, a shield against the caustic and vitriolic language that some spew forth on that site, emboldened by anonymity, for arming me with the power of kindness against faceless animosity.
I want to thank you for subverting the role of that online mask, for allowing people not to be suspicious of who may have written something detrimental about them but instead be optimistic than anyone could have said something empowering, for inspiring solidarity between our student body rather than dissention.
I want to thank you for creating a space that encouraged people to reach out in ways they might not have within another sphere, for challenging social media norms by developing an alternative form of speaking about peers, for imbuing my newsfeed with truly heartwarming messages.
Above all, I want to thank you for starting a movement that has so broadly permeated the campus and for giving me hope for the spread of more positive discussion than those perpetuated by Conn Coll Confessional.
Sincerely,
Anonymous
