Underground Celebrity: UBC Compliments

We are incredibly thankful for the opportunity the creator of UBC Compliments gave us to interview them and we commend them for the amazing job they are doing! For the sake and preservation of their anonymity, this interview steers away from revealing their identity in any way. All we know, is this one thing: they’re an undergraduate student.

UBC Compliments has become somewhat of a household name amongst the student body at UBC within the one year of its creation. Currently at 9,537 likes on Facebook, it’s safe to say that it has captured the attention of a large part of our student population – and for a wonderful reason: “spreading your love.”

Isn’t every other day someone you know mentions a funny or sweet compliment (better yet, the comments on them) that you knew about too? Serving as an excellent provider for procrastination as well as restoring our faith in humanity, UBC Compliments has successfully managed to unite a student community with the one thing that seems so difficult to receive nowadays: a compliment.

Something nice said about you. Something to make you feel good. In our crazy lives spent with our head down, complaining and shuffling miserably through the gloom and the rain, this page and what it lets us do allows a little, much-needed light into our lives. The concept is incredibly simple, but the impact it has can be profound. Whether the compliment is directed at you or someone else, the public nature of it allows us to take note of how many amazing people are on campus, as well as helping you feel overwhelmingly appreciated if you have friends nice enough to throw a compliment your way. 

So naturally, everyone is incredibly curious to know who this person behind the screen is, and we had a multitude of questions to ask! Have they ever been ‘caught’? Why did they decide to do this? How many messages do they receive a day? The list is endless. Get to know UBC Compliments (kind of…) right here!

1. What prompted you to create UBC Compliments? 

Last year – at around this time of the year actually – weeks of insane midterm madness and stressful family situations had me feeling completely alienated from friends, co-workers, and classmates. Weeks went by where waking up early for an 8:00 class felt more optional than obligatory. But one day, while I was on the skytrain to Commerical & Broadway, a little boy’s mother told me that her six-year old son thought I was beautiful. He started blushing as soon as she’d said it, and turned his back to me shyly. It made my heart melt. It’d been weeks since I’d felt that happy and I’d have to say that it’s been a very defining moment. That compliment did not just make my day, but my entire month. I started UBC compliments because there’s no way that feeling should ever be missed out on by other people.

2. Have you ever received a compliment before and posted it?

Yes, I have.

3. How many messages do you receive on average per day? Do you ever refuse to post compliments?

When UBC Compliments was first launched, I received more than 150 messages in a day. Now it’s a lot calmer.

The inbox is still flooding, but UBC Compliments receives about 40-50 messages per day. Most messages are posted if they include a compliment. I’ve only had to make refusals to post messages if they were insulting in any way.

4. Do any of your friends know that you’re the creator?

Three of my friends have accidently found out I was the creator. It made me realize how careful I need to be with setting a password on my laptop!

5. Have you ever posted your own compliment on the page?

I’ve posted two compliments to others, both times to friends or acquaintances going through a particularly hard time.

6. Will you ‘pass on the torch’, or continue doing this as long as you can? 

Honestly, I haven’t thought that far ahead about it. We’ll see…?

7. Have you ever been close to being ‘caught’ by someone?

I’ve been pretty close to being ‘caught’ by one of my close friends who often uses my computer and I’ve had to distract her on multiple occasions to log out or change tabs! It’s a lot safer to post compliments at home because you just never know who might actually glance over at your screen.

8. What’s your strategy for dealing with being bombarded with messages?

A lot of people get really upset when their message doesn’t get posted right away. Honestly, they’re posted in the order they’re received. I do my best to post messages as often as I can, and I often feel guilty when I neglect posting compliments right away. I usually get to them in-between homework time or study breaks.

It’s hard, definitely hard, but undeniably worth every single second I spend.

9. What are the best and worst things about being the one behind this page?

The best part about being the creator is having the opportunity to directly impact each and every student, staff, or faculty member on this campus. However, a lot of responsibility comes with this.

Last year, a message was sent in from a student who was having suicidal thoughts during finals season. Within hours of posting the message on the page, I received dozens of inbox messages from students, counselors, and professors, asking for the student’s information in order to give him/her the professional help he/she needed. As a platform that promises complete anonymity, I felt sincerely conflicted making the executive decision on whether or not to disclose information on the student’s identity. So like I said, a great deal of responsibility comes with the power to impact people, which I guess might or might not be the worst thing about being the one behind this page.

10. What has surprised you the most in the course of doing it?

People do not forget the slightest gestures of kindness you do for them. They don’t go unnoticed.

And finally, UBC Compliments has a message to everyone at UBC:

Use it to your advantage. Use it as a platform to seize or re-seize the moment you missed out on. And lastly, if for any reason you have the opportunity to do so, follow up on your compliment in-person. It’s okay to reach out using UBC Compliments to an acquaintance or a stranger because of shyness, or fear of awkwardness per se.

But complimenting or thanking a good friend or roommate is a different story.

“You know, that’s what I like about you. You’re just so genuinely selfless. You forced me to sleep on your bed while you slept on the couch so I’d be more comfortable when I stayed over. Thanks again.”

Hearing that in person from a good friend will mean so much more to him or her than reading it on a page.