group hug is a website that publishes anonymous confessions. Readers of the site are encouraged to "confess" using a simple form. The site was launched in September 2003 by Gabriel Jeffrey and it remains a "spare-time project" of Jeffrey and Adam Bregenzer.
The site appeals to both voyeuristic and exhibitionist tendencies. A book, Stoned, Naked and Looking in My Neighbor's Window (ISBN 1-932112-36-7 published by Justin, Charles & Company), compiled confessions from the site. There is also a UK-specific edition of the book (ISBN 0-7432-6826-1 published by Simon & Schuster UK).
The site also has a Dutch-speaking version.
group hug created a podcast, called Audiocrush, "a Podcast about confessions, music, and everything else." group hug is predated by the Apology Project and digitally by Not Proud. Not Proud was started three years earlier in 2000.
As of September 2012, grouphug.us is showing a "Thank You" underneath the picture of a coffee pot which links to its Facebook page. The site is perhaps closed forever.
Famous quotes containing the words group and/or hug:
“The conflict between the need to belong to a group and the need to be seen as unique and individual is the dominant struggle of adolescence.”
—Jeanne Elium (20th century)
“Men greet each other with a sock on the arm, women with a hug, and the hug wears better in the long run.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)