– David Wriglesworth and John Fernandez contributed to this report.
The University of Lincoln has responded to a Facebook page, which posts students’ embarrassing stories.
Called “Lincoln Confessions, the page, which was founded on October 7th, 2012, has already gained over 2,500 likes and is gaining popularity every day.
Over 69 ‘confessions’ have already been posted to the page, which contains the tagline: “Ever been drunk and regretted it in the morning? Maybe you tried to steal a swan? Private message your secret confession and they will posted on here anonymously.”
The stories posted range from tales from a drunken night out at Superbull, to photos of rather grim on-goings around campus after dark.
Emily Howard, a third year journalism student who has seen the page, said: “Some of [the confessions] are funny, some of them are totally gross and some of them I’m not even sure if they are entirely real.
Another student, Alex Johnson said: “I feel that these stories are too far-fetched to be realistic and have become people trying to one up each other.”
Johnson continued: “The stories also seem to be glorifying drinking a little too much. There’s definitely a drinking culture around student life and, to a level, I think it’s fine. But when people are glorifying stories of alcohol abuse to such bad states, I think something needs to be done.”
Daniel Cosgrove is a third year biomedical sciences student, who condemns the language used on the page: “The way some of the confessions talk about women or people in general is quite bad.”
In an e-mail sent to all students, Elly Sample, Director of Communications, Development and Marketing at the university, said: “A number of staff and students have raised concerns about content posted on a Facebook page called ‘Lincoln Uni Confessions.’
“We would ask the entire University community to be aware that these sites appear to be part of a co-ordinated hoax campaign, which has targeted at least 20 other UK universities to our knowledge.”
The message strongly urged students to “refrain from associating themselves with these sites, or others like them.”
Sample concluded: “The nature of the sites and the content raise several student welfare issues. Any student who is a victim of this campaign, or who has further concerns, should contact the Student Support Centre, where advice and support is available.
“We wish to remind students that personal information posted on Facebook or other social media channels is there for the world to see and is extremely difficult to remove once posted. Do consider the consequences a posting could have for you and others in the future.”