Confessions.za is a South African student confessions page that, since being created on Instagram in 2019, has become widely known in student communities across the country.
“I remember creating the account waiting between classes on campus,” says the founder of Confessions.za, who asked to remain anonymous.
“Growing up in the technology age, I always knew that, by having an audience on social media, you could monetize it in some way and this intrigued me. I just didn’t know what or how I was going to do it,” he says, via email correspondence with MatieMedia.
Followers submit anonymous confessions mainly through the Confessions.za website, according to the founder of Confessions.za. PHOTOS: Facebook/Confessions.za
Ultimately, a confessions page “just made sense”, as followers create the majority of the content through their submissions, the founder says.
Anyone can submit an anonymous confession to the page via the Confessions.za website, or by sending the page a direct message (dm) on Instagram, he says.
“I didn’t know if something would come of it for sure, but I thought, ‘What the heck – there’s no harm in trying, right?’”
Slow and steady
Having started out as a new Instagram account in March 2019, the page grew steadily to 10 000 followers by the start of December that year, the founder says. “I thought this was the limit – it might get a little bigger than that, but not by much.”
He recalls other Instagram pages not wanting to collaborate with him at this stage. However, the number of followers continued to grow.
The account reached 50 000 followers in May 2020, he says. “From there, with the help of the followers, it just kept growing and eventually became a brand, as well as a community.”
Ultimately, a confessions page “just made sense”, as followers create the majority of the content through their submissions, says the founder of Confessions.za. PHOTOS: Facebook/Confessions.za
Currently, Confessions.za has over 242 000 followers on Instagram, 145 000 followers on TikTok, 6 000 members on Discord, and 2 000 members on Reddit, according to the founder.
“I go through the confessions every day to find content to post, but I just can’t get through them quick enough. They just keep accumulating,” he says. “At the moment, there’s 41 000 unread confessions that I simply haven’t been able to even read. And trust me, I’m trying.”
Questions.za, a sister page to Confessions.za, has also grown to over 37 000 followers on Instagram, the founder says. The page follows the same format as Confessions.za but people submit questions which are answered by followers in the comments section.
Having a jol
The public’s awareness of Confessions.za really picked up once the page started getting involved with nightclubs and events, the founder says.
“Our first event ever was Slushy,” he says. “After that we’ve worked with events such as QRS, Wandering Tribe, WallaWalla, etc. And this year will be our first year at Ballito Rage, which is huge for us.”
He describes the experience as “unreal”.
“Going from just attending these events to actually being involved has been such an opportunity to have fun and learn a few things at the same time,” he says.
Pictured above is DJ Cioz in action during a Confessions.za event at Wandering Tribe. “Going from just attending these events to actually being involved has been such an opportunity to have fun and learn a few things at the same time,” says the founder of Confessions.za. PHOTO: Sourced/Mike Bets
Down to business
“The merchandise is my favourite part about running the account,” says the founder. “I’ve learnt so much about the e-commerce industry and I’m still learning every day. I love it.”
He says he waited until the page had 50 000 followers before releasing the first piece of merchandise. “I felt you first needed a big enough audience that loves what you do before you can try to sell them a product,” he explains.
“People buying merch is one thing,” the founder says. “But it’s when I see videos of people using the merch and having a good jol with their mates that I get even more excited about the business.”
Confessions.za merchandise was made available on Takealot this year, which has doubled the business’s revenue, he says.
“But it’s not all about the money. The skills and knowledge I’m learning by doing this and making other people happy is where the value lies for me.”
Having started in 2019, Confessions.za has grown to over 242 000 followers on Instagram and 145 000 on TikTok, according to the founder of Confessions.za. PHOTOS: Sourced/Confessions.za
More than a page
The founder describes the Confessions.za community as a “family”.
“People often confess to unfortunate situations they’re in and, when it gets posted, the amount of comments and dm’s I receive from people willing to lend a helping hand is heart-warming.”
People really care about each other on the page, he says.
“I think the followers love the account and family as much as I do. There’s even a few people with the logo tattooed on them (yes, they did get free merch for this).”
“I’m so fortunate to be able to do this and I owe everything to the followers,” he says.
“I go through the confessions every day to find content to post, but I just can’t get through them quick enough. They just keep accumulating,” says the founder of Confessions.za. “At the moment, there’s 41 000 unread confessions that I simply haven’t been able to even read. And trust me, I’m trying.” PHOTOS: Facebook/Confessions.za
Student reactions
“I think it’s really funny, obviously, and it’s also quite interesting to see what people are experiencing around us, because it’s very unfiltered. It’s sometimes quite shocking to see what people are doing in life.” – Caylin Elwood, a BA visual arts student at Stellenbosch University.
“Some people just need help, hey. It’s crazy.” – Nicola du Toit, a BCom economic science student at Stellenbosch University.
“I think it’s pretty funny. I also like that it’s anonymous.” – Taylor Ross, a BA humanities student at Stellenbosch University.