Spread The Love With Anonymous Compliments

If you're looking to take a study break after spending days and days in Lamont, check out Crimson Compliments, the latest Harvard-student created website by Seth A. Riddley '12.

"It's a Facebook page that allows Harvard students to post anonymous compliments to their friends," Barr Yaron '14, one of the site's co-administrators, explained.

Riddley was inspired to create Crimson Compliments after viewing a similar page for students at The College of William and Mary. Riddley then launched the page on Thursday night. Already, it has over 200 Facebook friends and has been referenced on websites like "I Saw You Harvard."

"I think that people are responding to it really positively. Somebody sent me a message, and she said that she had just been complaining about how Harvard students were mean to each other, and that this was changing her mind," Riddley said.

The Facebook page's dozens of posts range in subject matter from p-sets to roommates. Already having received an anonymous compliment, Ting-Ting Liu '15 said, "It exponentially brightened my mood. Whoever left me the compliment had perfect timing, and I thank him/her for the wonderful surprise, as well as for making me smile."

If you feel like sending an anonymous note to someone that deserves thanks, go ahead and message Crimson Compliments on Facebook—remember that anonymity is guaranteed to all users. As Riddley puts it, "Everyone likes getting compliments. If you see a compliment saying something nice about you, it has a positive impact."

With finals, papers, and summer plans filling everyone's minds, the goal of Crimson Compliments is to brighten the days Harvard students, as it's easy to feel overwhelmed.

"It's about spreading a little bit of cheer to Harvard, which is generally a happy place, but it's also intense," Yaron said. "It's nice to take a step back and tell people that you appreciate them and that they are important to you in some way."