Anyone can say anything they want to anyone anonymously! Illustration courtesy of senior Hunter Temple.
Many may have noticed the rise of drama and gossip accounts on Instagram and TikTok that focus on San Luis Obispo High students. They come and go quickly, some lasting as little as a few weeks but always following the same format.
The accounts promise to provide an anonymous space where any student can publish or read a “confession” about any student, faculty member, or the school/town generally. On the surface this may seem harmless but in reality it is anything but.
Rather than drawing more attention to said accounts by reporting on them directly, Expressions interviewed SLOHS Vice Principal Joshua Garcia who has been handling the issue.
Expressions: How long has this been an issue? How common is it?
SLOHS Vice Principal Joshua Garcia: This has been going on for a long time, and I think it actually predates Instagram, anytime there was social media, there has been some kind of cyber bullying. There’s always been people posting about other people. Before that, people were putting things in newspapers. People were writing things physically down about others, or spreading rumors. That’s what you’ve seen throughout human history. The difference now is it’s so easy to just write quickly about somebody, and then hundreds or thousands of people see it. So I’d say that, like to this extent, has been probably more the last twelve years, ten years maybe, and then, especially since COVID, we’ve seen a huge uptick, because as people were at home, more people started getting access to social media and just spending a lot of time on there. So we’ve seen a lot more of it recently.
Expressions: What is the admin able to do about this issue when it comes up?
Garcia: We take cyberbullying pretty seriously. So if somebody is posting something about a student and saying negative things, creating any kind of mental distress, we treat it just like harassment, intimidation or bullying. In that case, there’s a lot we can do. What we can’t do is control the accounts, we don’t control Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, none of that. We don’t have any power over them, but we do report those things, and we can request those things to be taken down. Typically, we find out who runs the account, and then that student is held accountable for running the account. If it’s a malicious type of account, if it exists to slander other people, or if people are posting inappropriate things, then we treat it just as if they were saying things to people in person.
Expressions: What can students do to help combat these accounts?
Garcia: There’s a lot of things students can do. In fact, students have probably even more power than we do. In this case, one of the first things that students should do is report those accounts to Instagram, to Tiktok, to Snapchat. you can choose not to follow those accounts as well, even though it’s kind of hard. Sometimes they’re interesting accounts, or sometimes they don’t even exist to slander people. So you’re following a friend’s account but then things are posted, one of the first things you can do is stop following. Reporting to the administration if you know who is creating those accounts or who is posting is also very helpful. And then I would say, don’t be somebody who adds fuel to the fire. Don’t be somebody who talks about other people negatively. And then be aware that anything you type in a direct message could become public really quickly. People can screenshot it and then share it with hundreds of other people. The other thing is, anything you post on there can be taken and twisted and warped. Somebody can take it and doctor the picture, or take the worst picture you post of yourself, and then make that something with it. they can cut out part of what you said and edit it. So just be aware that anything you post on there, can be used against you.
Expressions: Is there anything you would like to say to the people creating these accounts or submitting posts to them?
Garcia: Something I’ve noticed is when I have discovered students who have had these accounts with thousands of followers, a lot of times, what they say is how it just felt exciting to have that many followers. So they were creating content that made their account garner more and more followers, and so they weren’t thinking about the effect it had on other people. And so when I sit with students whose names have been put on that account, or whose faces have been put on that account, they’re emotionally destroyed in a lot of ways. They just feel very depressed about it, they’re going through anxiety. The people creating the accounts don’t realize the effect that they’re having on those kids. So I think that if I were to share anything, for the people running these types of accounts, I would say to just be aware that it’s actually creating more negativity than you realize sometimes. not all of the accounts are like that. Some are positive, some are good, but there are those accounts that slander other people. And if you are one of those people, be aware that you’re creating something that could turn around and come back at you eventually. You could eventually be on one of those accounts. Your face could be posted there. Try to be somebody who adds positivity to our school, not somebody who adds negativity. And then be aware that you also will be held accountable if you have those accounts. We take those things very seriously.
Expressions thanks Joshua Garcia for his time and reminds all students to stay safe.
