The phenomenon of anonymous electronic message boards predates even the World Wide Web and their enduring utility is apparent on community sites such as craigslist.org, political blogs, newspaper talk boards and nosy-neighbor Internet forums around the world.
At most of the sites created by CollegeACB, the "confessions" range from rankings of attractive students on campus to dubious boasts of sexual exploits to frank discussions of eating disorders, homosexuality and other sensitive issues. While he is most proud of the latter category, Mann says he believes there is a benefit in airing even the racist posts - which, at Hopkins, tend toward attacks on the large Asian population - because there is virtue in disclosure, and popular condemnation, of bigotry.
A racist "has an opinion and should be corrected," Mann said, "not just told to shut up."
P.M. Forni, a Hopkins Italian literature professor and expert on civility, said sites like Mann's represent the sometimes toxic combination of an Internet-enabled culture of disclosure and the "radical informality" of young adults who grew up text-messaging.
"The bodily function-obsessed utterances in Web sites such as jhuconfessions.com are just an extreme manifestation of an age that has buried and forgotten reticence," he said.
Forni, whose forthcoming book, The Civility Solution, deals with bullying on campuses, says the anonymous sites' popularity is understandable. "In the society of disclosure there are still a few words and ideas that are banned as despicable or totally unpalatable," he said. "The cloak of anonymity under which communication takes place in these Web sites allows many of their users to dip their big toes in the pond of the forbidden."
For college students, the explanation is rather less academic.
"It's great library reading," said Michael Tanenbaum, 21, a Hopkins junior from Albany. "If you're really bored and want anonymous reading, it's a fabulous source of entertainment."
Daniel Marans, 20, a history major from New Jersey, said the glut of confessions of dubious provenance (among the rare printable ones: "I have a crush on Hillary Clinton") risks making Mann's site a "laughingstock" on campuses. That would be a shame, Marans said, because the site could be a "valuable service" for students looking for an outlet to air their problems and receive advice without fear of humiliation.
