{"id":1100,"date":"2017-01-05T16:09:04","date_gmt":"2017-01-05T15:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/?p=64269\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:06","slug":"de-breinen-achter-eur-confessions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/01\/05\/de-breinen-achter-eur-confessions\/","title":{"rendered":"The brains behind EUR confessions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The best-kept secret of the EUR confessions Facebook page: who is actually behind it? There are now more than 500 confessions on the page, but who actually selects and posts them online? And more importantly, what kind of things don\u2019t make it past the selection committee? Time to find out!<\/p>\n

They\u2019re sat in the Smitse, their \u2018favourite place on campus\u2019. Jan Hagen, with his dark beard and dark eyes, and Selma Rana, with her bouncy curls and large eyes, previously studied Sociology at EUR and now live in Antwerp. They are currently busy working on their start-up, \u2018Busje Delen\u2019 (Share-a-Bus). Jan explains: \u201cWe use the word \u2018bus\u2019, but they\u2019re actually coaches that we use to take people to and from festivals throughout the Netherlands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u201cI\u2019ve never actually been in it.\u201d\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJan talking about the Polak building\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

It\u2019s been a while since they graduated from EUR. The Polak building, one of the biggest inspirations for EUR confessions, hadn\u2019t even been constructed when Selma and Jan studied here. Jan chuckles: \u201cI\u2019ve never actually been in it.\u201d <\/p>\n

The two met through the student association Cedo Nulli, and have had a relationship ever since. When they were students, the Smitse was their favourite bar, but they still come here often with university friends. Selma smiles: \u201cThree years later and we are famous at EUR, who would have thought it?\u201d <\/p>\n

Which is your favourite confession?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both pause for a moment. Selma: \u201cWe\u2019ve really thought hard about that.\u201d Then Jan adds: \u201cthe one that really tickled me was a confession from a lecturer who said he failed lazy students because they\u2019d be too lazy to bother showing up at the inspection. I think I know which lecturer it was, which makes it extra juicy. That was in the early days of EUR confessions, and we had invited the lecturer to like the page.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did you come up with the idea to start the page?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Selma: \u201cIt was during the examination period of our master degree in Belgium. Exactly two years ago, so it\u2019s another reason to celebrate \u2013 alongside reaching the 500th confession. We were no longer EUR students. I studied at the University of Ghent; there was a similar page there which was doing really well. We saw that EUR didn\u2019t have one yet.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u201cI even made some up to keep the page going.\u201d\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJan\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

John confesses: \u201cSo we actually copied it from Belgium. In the beginning, we really promoted it among friends to get them to like it and post confessions. That obviously then appeared on other people\u2019s timelines and increased the number of likes for our page.\u201d Selma: \u201cThere\u2019s always a lot of activity on the page during the examination period, when people are procrastinating.\u201d<\/p>\n

So you can\u2019t see who has submitted a confession, then?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Selma: \u201cNo, definitely not. It\u2019s completely anonymous.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jan en Selma in de Smitse.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMarko de Haan<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Do you post all of the confessions you get on Facebook?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jan: \u201cAt first we did, partly because we received so few. I even made some up to keep the page going. Now, we don\u2019t post everything \u2013 far from it. I think around a fifth or a sixth of everything that comes in. The most important thing is that I think it\u2019s funny, or that I think others will think it\u2019s funny. I\u2019m not a fan of toilet humour, so I don\u2019t like to post anything like that. Now the page has been running for a while, you see that people submit confessions that have already been posted; obviously we don\u2019t post those, either.\u201d Selma: \u201cAnd just confessions about the Polak building gets a bit boring, so we try to post a selection of confessions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have you received confessions which really go too far?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jan: \u201cNot really. Sometimes I think to myself: can I actually post this? But it usually takes a lot to offend me. People should be able to bitch about each other a bit.\u201d Selma: \u201cOnce, we posted a video of a drunk guy at a student association here in Rotterdam. Then we got a message from someone saying that it was a bit unfair on him.\u201d Jan: \u201cI understood where that person was coming from, so we removed the video from the page.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you have any tips for a really successful EUR confession?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jan: \u201cAn important factor is that the confession affects a lot of people; something about current events or about the campus. We recently posted one about the taps in the toilet in the Polak building. Everyone probably thinks: \u2018Jesus, how annoying.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u201cPeople should be able to bitch about each other a bit.\u201d\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSelma\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Bashing other studies also works very well.\u201d Selma: \u201cThat was something we never saw in Belgium. There, people mainly posted funny anecdotes, and here, such a Facebook page is a place where people can mock each other, though it\u2019s never personal. Funny how it works differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

And now towards the 1000th EUR confession?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Selma: \u201cWe will continue to post the confessions as long as people like it. But I think it will probably follow the fate of all hypes: people find it very interesting for a while, until they move on to something new. When we were EUR students, you had the Facebook page \u2018EUR memes\u2019 or \u2018spotted@EUR\u2019. You don\u2019t hear much about those anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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