Online Confession Sites: Good for the Soul or Entertainment?

Confession, some say, is good for the soul. But does it still work if the confession is given to a thousand faceless visitors to a website? Websites like dailyconfession.com and davesdaily confession page are increasing in popularity.

These online confession boards are a far cry from a visit to a priest or psychologist. There is no contrition, no therapy, and no forgiveness of these confessions. It is just a bunch of people spilling their secrets. Of course, the secrets may not be true.

So why do people come to confession websites and bare their souls? There are two possible benefits: getting it off their chests and attempting to deal with what they did, or trying to simply get attention. And the people who come to read these confessions? Voyeurs looking for a funny or racy tale.

Confession is Good for the Soul

Stress is dangerous to your health. Carrying around a guilty secret can cause a lot of stress. There is a lot of talk about 'just getting it off your chest' and 'coming clean.' Confessing your deepest, darkest secrets may indeed be good for your mental well-being.

However, when people confess a sin or transgression, one of their reasons is to get forgiveness from someone. When Catholics confess to priests, they are looking for God's forgiveness. When a wife confesses she bought ten pairs of shoes last month, she wants his forgiveness. Forgiveness is cathartic.

When a confession is posted on a website, there is no one there to forgive you.

Confession is Good Entertainment

While some of the people writing the confessions may be in it for purely entertainment of the website visitor masses, the people reading them get the biggest thrill. These free confession websites are like newspapers full of the juiciest gossip. The only problem is, its all about people you do not know.