Makenna Leiby

Junior Anna Reither scrolls through the Instagram account @pvhssleep.

Rumors, drama and inside jokes have forever been an integral part of the social nature of high schools, but modern forms of this phenomenon have introduced unprecedented circumstances for students and school districts. 

Anonymous Instagram accounts featuring confidential confessions or images of students in specific situations have targeted individual high schools in recent years. For PV, these accounts have cycled through phases of surfacing and diminishing, but during the 2021-2022 school year, the pages have reached their highest level of popularity yet. 

Instagram accounts such as @pvhssleep, which features candid images of PV students asleep in class, and @plesant_valley_parking, which posts photos of student cars parked poorly in the parking lot, have gained up to 700 followers over the course of the school year.

The typical exposé page operates through a process where the secret account owner requests images or messages regarding the topic of the account. Then, students of the identified school will use the Instagram direct message feature to send in content to be posted on the page. The identity of the sender is usually kept confidential, but persons visible in photos or discussed in messages posted are identifiable to viewers. 

The accounts vary in content niches from students with poor posture, photos of feet in bathroom stalls to potentially inappropriate videos. Specific school-centered Instagram accounts began with ship accounts, where two students would be featured because the student body believed they should be in a relationship, and “shaderoom” accounts, which displayed anonymous messages from senders discussing gossip about fellow students. 

However, no matter the subject of the accounts, it is clear their existence has altered the high school experience for most students. 

Junior Sophie Malmen was posted on @pvhssleep with a candid photo of her asleep in a classroom. Since that experience, she admitted to reshaping and rethinking her routines to bypass being publicized on an exposé account. “In some situations like the parking bad or bad posture page, it can definitely encourage me to avoid doing those things,” she said. 

Due to many of the accounts encompassing undesirable behaviors, like sleeping during class, poor parking or posture, PV students have become more cognizant of their actions at school to remain off the feeds of recreational accounts. The Instagram pages have inadvertently created a more aware and accountable student body. 

Furthermore, the recent Instagram accounts do more than just improve PV students’ self-perspective, they influence the social environment of the school. Malmen commented on the interactive accounts making school more enjoyable. “I believe it can make it more fun to see your friends and classmates being posted,” she said. The accounts succeed in creating a strong sense of community within the school because of the inclusivity provided in all aspects of the interdependent pages. 

While it may be true that these interactive accounts create connected populaces, they also have the potential to isolate and embarrass students. Accounts posting shameful images or rumors about a person acting authentically at school can harm one’s sense of safety within the school building. 

Deputy Jamey Fah spoke on the character of complaints he receives from students regarding the activity taking place on high school Instagram pages. “If people are coming to me they are typically upset by it or they don’t like what’s happening because they like their school community to be a safe place for them to be themselves,” he said. 

The activity occurring on these accounts could be compared to cyberbullying because it targets unsuspecting individuals and destructively broadcasts their weaknesses. Being featured within the feed of these accounts can damage a person’s self-esteem or reputation. 

Fah explained his concerns in reference to the effects of being posted on farce accounts. “Like the parking page for example, probably most of the people on the parking page knew they were parking poorly because they made the choice to get quick parking and get into the building quicker, but maybe there were people who parked and they just aren’t really good at parking and then they end up on the parking page and they feel bad about being made fun of,” he said. 

Equally important is the factor of legality that comes with posting candid images of peers. Since many photos or messages posted are sent from outside sources and without the consent of the featured person, students mentioned are often made to feel uncomfortable. 

Iowa is specific in its regulations surrounding photographing or recording individuals in public. Fah illustrated the legal boundaries, “In Iowa, we are what’s called a one-party-state when it comes to recording audio, video or photographing people. So if I’m at a park… and I’m out in public, I don’t have an expectation of privacy there, one party can record and do what they want with that [recording],” he said.

As a result of the Iowa regulations, the images posted on most entertainment accounts are legal until they reach certain extents. When photographs made public display inappropriate content or are taken in spaces where privacy is expected, the legal confinements become more strict. 

Fah detailed his process in determining the legality of pictures shown in the PV accredited pages. “I have to ask questions about if this is a place where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy,” he said. He provided examples for clarification. “There was a page where photographs were being taken in the bathroom. So a bathroom is a place that most people will have an expectation of a certain level of privacy… so there can be issues there,” he said. 

In light of these reasons, multiple drama and humor accounts have been removed by PV for violations of privacy expectations or general harassment. Fah warned students running anonymous accounts about the consequences of the mentioned illegal behaviors. “Anonymous accounts aren’t really anonymous. If I see illegal activity on the page I absolutely will find out who is the person running the page,” he said. 

High school-centered exposé Instagram accounts have revolutionized the modern form of gossip and premature antics, but now high schoolers are paying the price.