The Internet is not always a nice place. However, one group of anonymous do-gooding Columbians is trying to change that. Columbia Compliments serves an an intermediary, accepting complimentary Facebook messages intended for specific people and publically posting those messages as its status, without mentioning who sent them. In the end, the lucky recipient gets a public compliment that seems to come from Columbia. Taken together, it’s an anonymous love-fest. But just who is behind Columbia Compliments? They wouldn’t tell us, but we interviewed them anyway.

Bwog: Why now?

Columbia Compliments: We have been thinking about this idea for a while. It just felt like the right time. Midterms just finished (for most people), and a lot of people aren’t as pleased with their results as they would like to be. It’s just so pleasing to see people walk around with a smile on their faces.

Do you have any favorite compliments? What makes a good compliment?

Honestly, there are just so many phenomenal comments that it’s hard to pick just one.
A good compliment is one that puts a genuine smile on the recipient’s face, and urges others to send compliments in as well.

Has anyone submitted a compliment for themselves? If they did, would you post it?

No one has done that thus far. We will only develop a policy for that if necessary!

How long will you be doing this?

We are not in a position to answer this question at the moment.

Is it just one person?

We will not be responding to this question.

Has anyone done anything sweetly romantic? Has anyone done anything creepily romantic?

Sweetly romantic, yes. There have been tons of people that have complimented their friends and loved ones with extremely romantic language. There haven’t been too many creepy compliments thus far, with the exception of one or two secret admirers.

What about all the people who aren’t getting compliments?

The word about this initiative is yet to get to as many people as we want. Once it gets to a larger audience, we hope that one’s compliments will urge others to send in compliments as well—expanding the overall reach of this project.