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There's a Twitter account (that can now also be found on Facebook) which offers people the chance to anonymously reveal their secrets, and with 535K followers, it has become a viral online sensation.

Titled Fesshole, the account is the brainchild of Rob Manuel. Those of you that are well-versed in internet culture might know him from creating 'B3ta', a meme design website that famously sued Coca-Cola after they ripped off one of its viral animations for a TV ad.

Anyway, the "sins" on Fesshole range from the clumsily awkward (messing up a handshake) to the hilariously outrageous (hiring someone because they share your love for pro-wrestling), and, I guess, their popularity shows that in the age of social detachment, a little gossip can go a long way.

Continue scrolling to check out Fesshole's latest content, and don't miss out on the chat we had about secrets with Dr. Michael Slepian, the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Associate Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School, spread out in between the pictures.

However, if you go through the entire thing and your curiosity wants more, fire up our earlier publication on Fesshole.

More info: Twitter | Facebook

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Trisha Howson
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I see nothing wrong with this at all. They wouldn't take care of her give her to someone that can and will

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To begin with, Dr. Slepian said when we keep a secret, we often mean to protect something. "Perhaps we believe that it protects our reputation, or our relationship with someone. And yet, our secrets tend to harm our well-being, and can harm our relationships too," the author of The Secret Life of Secrets: How Our Inner Worlds Shape Well-Being, Relationships, and Who We Are told Bored Panda.

"When we choose to be alone with something, especially something important, we tend not to develop the healthiest way of thinking about it. It often takes another person to get the help that we need. Even a short conversation with a trusted person can offer so much. Emotional support and fresh perspectives can easily be offered by your confidant, but are hard to find on your own. This is why we often want to bring others in. We know that another person can prove helpful, and that having a conversation about the secret would be a healthy thing to do. To have a secret from everyone is to be alone with that thing, and we don't like to be alone. Your desire for help and social connection is in battle with your fear of how others will respond. When we let fear win, we hold the secret tight."

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April Caron
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had a 6 year old foster kid who was obsessed with wanting glasses like her older sister. Alas, she didn’t need them. :/ While her older sister walked around trying on various frames for her new glasses, she was trying to be supportive. I couldn’t bare to see her disappointed, so I told her to pick out whatever frames she also wanted. She was over-the-moon elated! We bought her “glasses” as-is without a prescription… just a clear lens. They were a hideous pink cat eye style. She wore them EVERYWHERE! And anytime she would get complimented on them, she’d tally up those compliments, “See? Another compliment!” It was ridiculously cute! :)

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James Morris
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always want to ask Alexa to end the simulation {like the Matrix} but don't. I'm afraid if it does life might be worst then it is.

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With Edy Moulton-Tetlock, a doctoral student in management studying organizational behavior, Dr. Slepian asked more than 800 online participants to describe their personal secrets, using his list of 38 common categories of secrets as their guide.

The participants described more than 10,000 secrets, including both those they had shared with someone ("confided secrets") and the ones they had kept all to themselves ("total secrets").

The data revealed that confiding a secret predicted improved well-being. That's because the participant received social support and because the act of revealing the secret seemed to minimize the amount of time the person spent thinking about it.

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Dr. Slepian's research suggests that someone who is more secretive tends to be less extraverted and less emotionally stable, but more conscientious.

However, we also need to be aware of what it means to be "unloaded" on.

"When another person confides in us, this can be a boon but also a burden. When someone trusts us to the point of revealing a secret, we understand this is an act of intimacy, and often feel closer to the person as a result."

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wv10014
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think if it has lasted 10 years (hopefully happily) then it was a good decision to go along with it!

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Nadine Debard
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My now husband did this one Christmas, and I had the good idea to ask if it was "just a nice ring" or not, even though I would have loved a proposal.

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Ian Webling
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Similar happened to me once. Luckily I came to my senses and called it off pre-wedding.

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Lakota Wolf
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not every ring is an engagement ring; it also depends on OP's country/culture. It also depends on the emotional/relationship mental state of the GF - she was obviously very serious about the relationship - perhaps more serious at the time than OP was. If she were less serious, she may have simply realized the ring was a gift and not an engagement.

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Anikulapo
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Who buys a ring for their gf at Xmas not meaning it as a proposal. Congratulations you big eejit 😁

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Sebastian Köster
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

why not? it was surely just meant to show how much he loved her. its not his fault that she misunderstood it.

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Eighmy Lupin
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So because he was trying to be nice to her, he deserves to be trapped in a marriage he didn't want??

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Katie Lutesinger
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My dad gave his girlfriend a ring too, not meaning it as an engagement ring. She understood it was a "regular" ring, but I'm told when relatives saw her wearing it there were raised eyebrows and "well when were you going to tell us??" stares. (They did ultimately get engaged for realsies and are now my parents, if you're wondering, and Mum still has the non-engagement ring. It's one of her favourite bits of jewellery!).

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ThisIsNotTheOneYou'reLookinFor
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never told anyone. Young (18yrs) lady & I (21) had sex. She was late and I said I would marry her as the honorable thing. I did think a lot of her but love(?). She told everyone we were engaged. Her period came. We were married 25 years. Not all happy by any means. Especially the last 12 but got 2 great kids out of it. Waited until they graduated HS. They were smart enough to know things were bad and thanked me for waiting so both their parents could attend graduation. Two years after terrible nasty divorce with mental wife, found a truly wonderful woman. Now married 20 years and they have been happiest of my life.

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My Full Name Is Way Too Long
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Plot twist: She knew it wasn't a marriage proposal, but she pretended to believe it was one anyway :).

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Laris Mills Winchester
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why even say yes when he didn't say anythibg or even didn't go on he knee...

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Munchkin
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, I think lesson learned to not buy your other half a ring unless you're proposing....

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J
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never get a girl a ring as a gift unless you intend to propose, if she specifically asks for it that's different.

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GramDB
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OMG! I hope you're happy. Don't tell her the truth … yet.

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Susan Mercurio
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If it's been 10 years, you must be happy. Both of you got a winner.

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Louise Bernard
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe there is another confession that goes: "My boyfriend got me a ring for Christmas. I was not ready to get married but I didn't want to say no in front of everyone. I pretended to be touched and said yes. We have been married for 10 years..."

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NicNor5560
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I got a ring from my BF at Christmas too. And I screamed too. But he told me right away that it was just a friendship ring. OK. So I put it on my left hand anyways (and he told me it didn't go there...). The ring got switched sides. We didn't marry. I ended up with a colleague of his older brother. Love of my life.

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Sinkvenice
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The marriage is built on a lie, regardless of still being married 10 years later. Nice one bro, I hope she never finds out.

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karl briggs
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Shut the hell up!!!!!!! This actually happened to me about 15 years ago, I went along with it for 18 months and even moved across the country with her but thankfully managed to break up with her!

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Kostas Tsen
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unless you were just outside the church, you could not find a wild animal to chew off one of your limbs before the actual day? A fair price for such a bad choice of gifts..

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MaryAnn Ryan
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You have mo one to blame but yourself. I do hope you're happy.

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SAF saf
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is on you....a ring before an engagement was a bad choice lol.

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Herkfixer
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pretty sure it's likely a "let me see what I can make up to get a bunch of likes" kinda story.. who buys a (likely diamond if it got confused for an engagement) ring for a gf when not an engagement.

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Sally Barry
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There's the tv show, 'Mom', and the ex-husband who was a drunk and druggie and slacker all his life somehow got cleaned up. He married a lovely, but controlling rich woman whose father gave him a good job. They now lived in a nice house and had a nice middle class life. (the new wife made it happen.). He was now living the American dream. Was he happy? Did he WANT all this? It's hard to say. I think he did look back on his lost years as being hellla fun, and he probably misses it in a way. Now, he finds himself married, a dad, going to the country club, having some money....he enjoys that, too. Not what he expected to fall into, but he appreciates all of it. (even if he kind of does wonder how he got there and isn't really sure he deserves it or even wants it. But it turned out well! Everyone was happy, or at least, not unhappy,)

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Blaze Fitzwater
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1 year ago (edited)

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

What else has unintentionally happened in 10 years? LOL...

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Michael Largey
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1 year ago (edited)

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Marriage is the product of the unintentional and the unwilling embracing the inevitable. ---Later. This comment has been hidden. Why and by whom?

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And yet, Dr. Slepian explained that if the secret is something we find troubling or surprising, we might find our thoughts returning to it again and again.

"The secret can weigh on our mind. And if the secret implicates someone you know, then you'll have to keep the secret from them, which will bring its own burden," he added.

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While Dr. Slepian thinks it's possible for people to live like an open book, sharing everything with the world, he wouldn't advise it.

"There is a class of secrets that most everyone agrees is okay to keep. People often call these 'white lies,'" he clarified. "If you are just arriving at the party, and your friend asks you how their outfit looks, but it is too late to change, then most people agree that saying something positive is the kinder response ('You look great!'). If the truth needlessly hurts someone's feelings, holding back is often the more compassionate choice."

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DuchessDegu
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't like the taste of beer, wine or spirits, I'm more than happy with a soft drink or juice. I've done it to stop people asking "but whyyyyyyy?" I don't drink and "just try this one".

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Aroha
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cute idea, I'll do the same! *remembers that she has never been asked out* Oh... 😐

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Paul C.
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The company I worked for supplied free vend coffee machines. I put fake price stickers on the machines. It went ballistic. HR had to put out an Email assuring everyone it was somebodies idea of a joke. I think I got away with it.

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There's no exact formula that tells Rob Manuel which submissions he needs to feature on Fesshole. His choices are based on simply going through the list and reading them. Everything depends on his judgment of what he thinks is funny or interesting. So if you send Rob something and it doesn't appear on the account, don't sweat it. There are other online "priests" you can share your secrets with. Like the subreddit r/confessions.

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April Caron
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is why I have a Furbo camera… so I can talk to my animals. My cat is too smart! When he wants my attention… he triggers the camera, so I’ll check on him and have a little chat with him. :)

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Paul C.
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My brother-in-law, who is a right know it all, fitted his fridge freezer into his kitchen work tops. For years my sister-in-law complained nothing was ever cold and the freezer took an eternity to do basic freezing......he'd left the Styrofoam encasing the whole of the back.

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Trisha Howson
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well you told him. It on him should of listened sometimes that is what it takes and you can have a laugh about it

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Elizabeth Elliot
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Shame on you! Think of all the jobs you're stealing from people with REAL interpretive dance degrees! :)

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Paul C.
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good thinking, can't have somebody with a different opinion than yourself can you? Sarcasm alert.

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Note: this post originally had 95 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.