An exclusive interview with the Taly fresher behind Cardiff Confessions

In April 2018, one brave soul decided it was time that Cardiff had a place to expose their embarrassing stories, STI announcements, and degree pissing contests- all on one Facebook page.

With over 5000 followers, it's no surprise that the page, Cardiff Confessions has since become a daily source of entertainment and light-hearted banter for all Cardiff students. But who is the brain behind it?

Contrary to popular belief, it is not the Dean of Cardiff University that is the mind, soul and keeper of our naughty secrets but in fact, a Talybont fresher. Although he has remained anonymous, we've had an exclusive chat with him about confessions, gossip and his Cardiff faves.

We are dying to know, who are you?

I’ve been a very sensible Taly fresher since September, but I’m fairly local anyway and knew lots of people in Cardiff before I came. At the moment, it’s just me running the page.

Is there anybody that knows you created Cardiff Confessions?

Most of my friends do and a few of my coursemates do as well. I had to add people to the page from my personal account to get the ball rolling at the beginning. Some think it’s great, my girlfriend thinks I’m a gimp.

There are a few confession pages out there, what made you decide to start your own?

I’d been thinking about making the page the whole year after seeing how well-received the likes of Durham’s Durfess and Bristol’s Bristruths were and realised there was a gap in the market for Cardiff. The last page for us was run by club promoters and hasn’t been properly active since 2014, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and set up a student-run one.

I brought up the idea of making it, to my mates at my hometown Spoons and it was met with great enthusiasm, so I thought I had nothing to lose apart from my entire reputation at uni and any possibility of making friends in the future. I consulted a trustworthy course mate about the name and brainstormed some ideas about the profile picture and set it all up.

Did you think the page would become so popular?

I thought it had the potential to be popular since Cardiff has such a massive student population, however I didn’t expect it to catch on so quickly. I made the page in early April and only had 84 likes, once I gave in and advertised it on Overheard, then it got a little over 2000 likes in a week. There are even a few lecturers on there.

We all feel a little empty when our newsfeed grows quiet from a lack of confessions, how do you feel when you’re put on a temporary ban?

It’s a little annoying, especially if you saw the posts I actually get banned for, because it’s my personal account that gets banned so I’ve had to be a little more careful with what actually gets published.

Have you written any confessions yourself?

I wrote one very early on but I’m not saying what it is.

Do you love knowing everybody’s naughty goss and dirty laundry?

It would be more fun if the posts weren’t anonymous. Although I do still get people messaging the page with their confessions which are pretty funny.

Are there any favourite confessions you can think of?

The one specific post that springs to mind is the hilariously written one about the guy doing coke and masturbating on his carpet. Apart from that, I do get a giggle out of the bitchy ones that cause arguments in the comments, especially the Welsh versus English banter.

What's one of the most rewarding things to come out of the page?

I received a post request from someone with suicidal thoughts, and was a bit hesitant at first to post it because of the nature of the page. But actually after it was published, the response in the comments was superb.

It made me realise the page can actually be a bit more than just a bit of fun and can be a useful tool for people to express feelings anonymously that they may feel uncomfortable talking about to friends or family.

I’ve been contacted by Student Support since then and have been able to post messages on their behalf to a wider audience.

Has there been any posts you’ve refused to publish?

Most don’t get published because I get so many submissions and I’m conscious about clogging up news feeds. One in particular I remember refusing to post contained a photo of a medicine student that probably would have ended his uni life and any possibility of future employment.

A lot of the confessions aren’t actually confessions, does that bother you?

I actually think most of the funniest posts aren’t confessions so it doesn’t bother me at all. If I only posted confessions the only thing we’d learn is that pretty much everyone in Cathays has chlamydia.

Now, we need to test just how Cardiff you are…

Orange or Blue VKs?

Orange.

Quids In or Lash Wednesday?

Lash.

Fattoush or Fam Fish?

Fattoush gave me the shits.

Most importantly, Cardiff Uni or Met?

No more silly questions please, it’s obviously Met…

Finally, what would you like to say to your confessors?

Thanks to everyone who’s submitted/ commented/ angry reacted on a post slandering Live Lounge for getting on board with Cardiff Confessions and helping it grow so quickly.

Students of the Diff stay tuned, because this Taly fresher has mega plans for the future of Cardiff Confessions and wants to give the page more of a community feel.

Watch this space, you might be on it one day.