A new Facebook page, “Bowdoin Compliments,” hit news feeds campus wide on December 1. The page’s mission is to spread goodwill across campus: a student messages the anonymous moderator a compliment about another student, and the page’s administrator reposts the compliment, guaranteeing the anonymity of the submitter.
Compliments range from the pithy—like one addressed to Emma Young ’15 that read “You’re so friendly and adorable, [I] wish we could be better friends”—to paragraphs and poems. The page has already achieved over 800 “friends,” almost half the student body.
The page’s moderator, a Bowdoin student, asked to remain anonymous in an interview with the Orient. The student explained that other campuses provided the page’s inspiration. “One of my friends from another school was complimented . . . it was so cute!”
Though the idea of compliments pages may be new to many Bowdoin students, the student noted that at other colleges they are something of a phenomenon. “There are actually a ton of them at a lot of different schools,” the student explained.
The page tends toward an inclusive, positive tone. A recent post read: “@everybody who hasn’t received a Bowdoin Compliment already . . . I still think you’re fantastic.”
However, one post has caused some controversy. It read: “[I] hope this isn’t crossing a boundary, but [I] think about you when [I] whack it. xo”
When asked about the post, the moderator justified it based on context.
“It was obviously a friend of hers,” the student said.