As students at California Baptist University, we are no strangers to the various school-specific Instagram pages that have sprouted and gained the following of CBU students. The most popular of those accounts is @cbu.confessions, clocking in at 4,716 followers.
The Instagram account has no affiliation with CBU, but it has made its mark.
While the page originated intending to be a haven for anonymous “confessions,” it quickly morphed into a hub for quick information on the school and a place for people to promote small businesses, sell books, complain and even share the occasional meme poking fun at fellow students.
With the new school year, there was an announcement of a new administrator now in charge of the beloved @cbu.confessions Instagram account, and some students can feel the difference.
The new admin, who remains anonymous, has kept the page’s integrity by promoting school news, memes and student confessions. But they have added more of their opinion to the daily posts. The last administrator made it a point to remain objective, and I think that has emerged as a significant difference between the two.
There have been a few occasions where the admin voices their opinion on what their followers have sent in or commented on their posts.
The most memorable experience in my mind was when there was controversy surrounding a student promoting the Latino Student Union Club. The negative comments about the situation were posted separately on Instagram Stories, and the admin even gave their two cents on the topic.
This can help guard the emotions of students who may feel insulted or offended by their fellow students. I think removing hateful comments is morally correct, but when it leaks into positions that the admin simply disagrees with, it becomes censorship. I do not appreciate being limited on social media by a sole content creator, especially with a page like @cbu.confessions, which heavily relies on its followers to remain active.
The admin has also asked for feedback from their followers on how they are doing. That strikes me as a bit odd, to be honest. I understand they want to gauge their success within the account, but I believe success speaks for itself. The constant need for approval is tiring and comes off as insecure. In my opinion, if someone has to ask how they are doing, they probably are not doing that great of a job.
The polls asking whether or not they are doing a good job can come off as the admin being unsure of themselves. When asking for feedback, you should expect it to be honest. The whole point of requesting their follower’s opinions is to find out what they think of the page, right? However, getting defensive about constructive criticism deters followers from wanting to express their opinion in the first place. For example, on Sept. 25, the admin responded to feedback by commenting, “…it’s my account at the end of the day I will do what I want-.” With that mentality, I would not be surprised if the account lost some of its following.
Overall, as a new admin for a well-established social media account, they have kept the page running smoothly by posting stories and regular posts multiple times a day and maintaining its users’ anonymity. But over the last few weeks, they have added their own personal flair to the page. This personal flair of theirs is not for everyone.
Good luck to the new @cbu.confessions admin. It can only go up from here.
