Students Reflect on “Exeter Compliments”

By Emilia Kniestedt, Emi Levine, Catherine Wu, and Lianna Yang

Every day, the Exeter Compliments Instagram page uploads posts from students’ anonymous submissions with the aim of bringing the Academy community together through the kindness of its members. 

The account, @exeter_compliments, was created in 2020. Since then, it has amassed over 800 followers and nearly 6,000 posts. An anonymous Google Form linked on the account page allows people to submit compliments, general advice, questions, and more for posting.

The Exeter Compliments administrators explained the purpose of creating the page. “The single goal of the account was to, while not taking away from other issues, bring more positivity to the Exeter community,” they said. “We had also just finished our first term of online school, and since a continuation of online school was likely, we had a secondary goal of connecting students together.” 

The administrators believe they have made progress in achieving these objectives. 

“We’ve seen tremendous growth in this account since the beginning,” one administrator said. “We’ve shared thousands of compliments and, in terms of Instagram metrics, we’ve grown to consistently reach over 1,500 unique Instagram accounts and approximately half a million impressions on users every month.” 

In addition to numbers, the administrators see Exeter Compliments affect on people in the community. “Because Exeter Compliments is fully fueled by students, and sometimes faculty submitted compliments, we think that this account has mainly affected the campus by bringing intention and awareness to complimenting,” they said. “From what we have observed, the rise in compliments has also highlighted the impact small moments of positivity can have on others.” 

While the account has brought positivity to the campus, it has faced some challenges. On Dec. 31, 2021, the administrators released a letter to the community outlining some of the difficulties the page experienced as well as addressing complaints.

A main problem for the account was mistakenly posting negative submissions. The letter explained the filtering and posting process of the account, noting that a computer program flags any explicitly material sent through the form, and both administrators read every submission. The letter concluded with the creators promising to do better on their part.

Students had mixed opinions regarding the account. “I feel like it has integrated itself into Exeter culture very nicely. It’s very consistent,” senior Emma Lyle said. “I think it’s a way to both spread positivity and sometimes have a laugh because we all know it’s no longer just compliments being posted to the account.”

Senior Lekha Masoudi had similar thoughts. “I think it definitely spreads positivity across campus,” she said. “You can compliment not only an individual person, like your friend, but also the service workers, teachers, and health staff.” 

“The account is interesting to look at. It can be funny sometimes, and other times the posts are more serious and heartwarming,” upper Vibha Udayakumar said. 

However, not all students felt the same way about the account solely spreading positivity. 

“I think it’s bullying in disguise,” lower Gunn Sukhum said. “Only 30 percent of the posts are genuine. I’ve been mentioned on the page, but only by my friends, and I think realistically no one is going to go out of their way to compliment others they don’t know on the Instagram page.”

Prep Sarah Huang agreed. “I think it’s just a bunch of kids submitting compliments about their friends. I don’t think any of the compliments are genuine. Some of the posts are boring because they are all submitted by the same friend group about the same people.”

Upper Max Chuang interpreted the account’s several critical posts as opportunities for healthy debate. “I really don’t mind anything that goes on on the account. Even the posts that are a little mean, or a little edgy, at least there’s always meaningful discourse going on.”

Nonetheless, the positive seems to outweigh the negative for Chuang. “Recently there have been a lot of good posts about not just the students, but also the faculty, and people in general being grateful for those on campus. I do feel like it is spreading positivity,” he said.

Sukhum offered a suggestion on how to make the account sincere. “I think the compliments should be more filtrated, and they should post fewer so it actually highlights the genuine compliments that make peoples’ days.”

Even with the discourse about how authentic the posts on Exeter Compliments are, the administrators remind everyone what is at the heart of the account. “We hear the small moments of positivity caused by our platform on campus. Even if one post brings one smile to one student, we’re happy to have played a part.”