The day after The Mass Media published an article about racism and shooting threats on the UMass Boston Confessions Facebook page, someone claiming to be the page administrator emailed a rebuttal.

The newspaper was able to confirm this person’s identity by submitting a question on the Facebook page, which was then answered via email. The following interview is the result of The Mass Media’s communication with the individual responsible for UMass Boston Confessions.

What is your race? Are you a man or a woman?

I would refrain from answering the questions about my race, but what I can tell you is that I am a guy.

Are you a full time student?

Yes, I am a full time student.

Do you consider anything you posted in the hashtags to be racist? How about other people’s confessions? Are those racist?

I don’t think anything in my hashtags could be deemed racist. There might be a little cursing here and there, but I refrain from making racist comments. Some confessions and comments made by other people are kind of racist. These people want to inflict their opinions on the world, and they’re afraid to do so with their real identities.

Could your hashtags be considered sexist? Are other people’s posts sexist?

Like I said, it’s all about the perspective. My hashtags can be considered sexist from a woman’s perspective, but not from a man’s. My hashtags are just some trying-to-be-funny remarks and are not meant to be sexist. I respect the fairer sex and will refrain from posting any strong sexist remarks in the future.

I can’t judge other people’s posts.

Some students have told The Mass Media that they submitted statements to your page that never got posted. Do you post everything?

I get the anonymous comments via Google forms. I get a timestamp and the actual comment with no personal information whatsoever. I post every confession I get, including the ones with offensive content. Once or twice I’ve gotten a confession aimed at a particular person. I try to avoid posting full names in this case.

Why did you decide to post “abusive/sexual remarks/objectionable content” when most other schools’ confessions pages filter these posts out?

The definition of words like “abusive” or “offensive” varies from person to person. You might find something offensive that I don’t, or vice versa. I decided to post the confessions without any censorship because people post things freely when they know they are anonymous. They can be themselves without being judged. I want that feeling to be created by the page.

Is there anything a person could submit that you would not post?

I will refrain from posting full names. I’m fairly new at handling this type of situation, and I’m still making up the rules. If somebody has any advice, I’ll take it into consideration.

It’s true that you usually star out everything but the first letter of a person’s last name. It’s also true that some of your commenters are revealing these identities. Do you have any plans to prevent people from revealing identities in the comments?

No, I don’t plan to stop people from revealing identities in the comments. It’s usually friends who give full names, and commenters are responsible for their own actions.

I cannot read each and every comment on the page to weed out the ones that identify the subject of a post due to time constraints; I am a student myself. People should be careful before revealing identities in the comments because the person who they identify might not like it.

Have you ever posted to your own page?

I have never posted my own confessions on the page. I might do that now.

Are you worried about the page having any consequences for you?

I was made aware of the fact that I cannot use the UMass logo without permission, and I took it down immediately. I know administration can trace the page back to me, but what are they going to charge me with? Copy-pasting confessions or posting comments on “my” page? Aren’t there enough crimes/rapes/murders already that need investigating before the law enforcement catches a petty Facebook page admin?

What will you do if you are caught?

You make it sound like I am a murderer or a thief of some kind who needs to be caught. If I am ever asked to justify my actions, I will hold ground and do so.

What would you say to students who you have offended?

Offending someone was never my motive. If somebody does feel offended, please accept my sincere apologies.

Is there anything else you want to share with the student body?

Please use this page for sharing your little secrets that you carry around with you on this campus and not for spreading hate. I will continue posting uncensored confessions, but now with a little caution.

Would you reconsider posting racist comments or threats of violence?

People posting racist comments or talking about shooting each other are not under my control. What people post is solely their opinion and their responsibility. Like I said, I will still post the anonymous confessions I receive, but now I will pause for a second to reconsider my hashtag comments. I hope all the atrocities on the page will cease after a while, when people move on to other, better things.