ADVERTISEMENT

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

#1

People-Confessing-Anonymously

fesshole Report

Add photo comments
POST
trishahowson avatar
Trisha Howson
Community Member
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

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

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."

ADVERTISEMENT
#4

People-Confessing-Anonymously

fesshole Report

Add photo comments
POST
april_caron avatar
April Caron
Community Member
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! :)

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#5

People-Confessing-Anonymously

fesshole Report

Add photo comments
POST
thephotographerjames avatar
James Morris
Community Member
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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

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.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

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."

#10

People-Confessing-Anonymously

fesshole Report

Add photo comments
POST
ps101pcd avatar
PSimms
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I went home to visit my 78 year old mom who was in palliative care and dying of cancer. I discovered, for the first time, that she loves black Jelly Belly jellybeans. Later I was talking to my wife on the phone and told her this. Unbeknownst to me, she went straight out the door and down the street to Sugar Mountain candy shop, bought ALL the black Jelly Bellys they had, and FedExed them overnight to my parents' house. The next day 5 pounds of black Jelly Bellys show up, and I take them into my mother and say, "These are from your daughter in law." A few minutes later my mother hits the call button for the nurse and I say, alarmed, "Are you okay?" My mother says, "I'm great. I just want to show someone my jelly beans." I had to leave for the airport. She died six days later. It was the last time I ever saw her, and she was smiling like a kid on Christmas morning.

magen-jones13 avatar
IDK_Something
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What a great memory to cherish forever and always!! Absolutely wholesome, thank you for sharing!

Load More Replies...
bagladyele avatar
𝖊𝖆
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mum cries every spring when the daffodils come out, cos her dad tried to hold on but died before he got to see them one last time. About a day or two later the first ones came through in their garden and the family was heartbroken.

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

I’m sorry for your loss, but that was a brilliant idea and I love that it made your mom happy.

lnoft97 avatar
Sally Barry
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's like the. O. Henry short story, 'The Last Leaf'....very sweet.

cindylouwho1209_1 avatar
CindyLouWho1209
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So sweet! The daffodil and the Jelly Belly jelly beans! Sweet memories of loved ones are to be cherished. God Bless you! 😊❤️🙏

kbush5168 avatar
Kim Bush
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The last Christmas my mother was herself mentally, I'd made a blackberry cobbler. Taking her first bite, she smiled slowly, went mmmmm, then said "that takes me back to my childhood". Nothing that anyone says about my cooking will ever mean as much as those few words (even when they say my cornbread dressing reminds them of my mom's).

mlgeiger avatar
AK to LV
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My Grandfather had a huge sweet tooth and always had some sort of candy around. His favorite was jelly beans. The first Xmas that I got him the big container of Jelly Belly's from Costco was the best. The next Cmas was a surprise too😂 It became an traditional Xm gift and Bday. It always makes me smile when I see them at Costco.🥰

View more commentsArrow down menu

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.

ADVERTISEMENT
#16

People-Confessing-Anonymously

fesshole Report

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."

#18

People-Confessing-Anonymously

fesshole Report

Add photo comments
POST
mbbookkeeping avatar
DuchessDegu
Community Member
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".

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#19

People-Confessing-Anonymously

fesshole Report

Add photo comments
POST
katri-in-nz avatar
Aroha
Community Member
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... 😐

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#20

People-Confessing-Anonymously

fesshole Report

Add photo comments
POST
paulclarey avatar
Paul C.
Community Member
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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

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.

#23

People-Confessing-Anonymously

fesshole Report

Add photo comments
POST
april_caron avatar
April Caron
Community Member
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. :)

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#24

People-Confessing-Anonymously

fesshole Report

Add photo comments
POST
paulclarey avatar
Paul C.
Community Member
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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
See Also on Bored Panda
#45

People-Confessing-Anonymously

fesshole Report

Add photo comments
POST
trishahowson avatar
Trisha Howson
Community Member
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

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#46

People-Confessing-Anonymously

fesshole Report

Add photo comments
POST
lizmelliot avatar
Elizabeth Elliot
Community Member
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! :)

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
See Also on Bored Panda
#50

People-Confessing-Anonymously

fesshole Report

Add photo comments
POST
paulclarey avatar
Paul C.
Community Member
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.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

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