HHS Confessions Instagram Account Spills Secrets

If given the chance to say anything you wanted about anyone you wanted with no consequences, what would you say? Would you even tell the truth if it was all anonymous? How far would you go to ridicule those you disliked if no one knew it was you?
The Highland Confessions page—better known as HHS confessions—was an Instagram account run by an anonymous person that was all the gossip of students and occasionally teachers at Highland. The account consisted of a series of screenshots of DMs to the account owner spreading rumors, propaganda, gossip, and information on other Highland students and faculty members.
Anything that was sent to the account was posted; but people were also able to ask for certain comments to be deleted from the account, and they were, on numerous occasions. This didn’t stop hate speech from being messaged then posted nonetheless.
Highland senior Icarus Berry was one of such people targeted by the account, and had hurtful messages said about him. One of his friends asked to have the post taken down, and it was, but the damage was already done.
“Whoever owns that account is usually pretty good at taking stuff down when people specifically requested it,” Berry said.
However, the account told people numerous times that slurs and derogatory terms were not supported, and to remove them from any messages or comments, but hate speech was still posted. And it did nothing to stop lies or rumors from spreading. For many things that were posted on HHS confessions page, no one knows if they were true or not, and they continue to remain anonymous.
“I’m sure [that it affected people]. Kids our age get really effected by what people say—especially on the internet,” Highland’s SBO President Anthony Lords said.
Lords described how the account—more specifically what was said on it—really started to get to some kids and affect them negatively. For teenagers, going through high school, the stress of life is already enough, but pressure and hate from unknown people around them—especially in school— is really hard to go through, and can have numerous negative effects on mental health.
Even though the account was not created with the intention to cause mental harm, or create self-conscious individuals, in the end that’s what the account did. The hate speech directed towards Berry was anonymous, but it was still just as hurtful and rude as any hateful thing would be.
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but the hate speech was really upsetting,” Berry said. “It left a pretty bad taste in my mouth.”
Whether certain gossip is true or not, most of the time it will harm those who have been talked about in ways that the sender didn’t mean. Posts on the HHS confessions page tended to fall under this category.
In addition, many times, when one person was mentioned on the account, other people would soon join in, and multiple rumors would be started with one person as the target. Usually it would start out as a joke, but it turns into something more from there once multiple people start sharing gossip about one person.
Gossip, rumors, and hate speech are a typical way to get something banned on a social media platform, and the Highland Confessions page was no expectation.
“After the first couple posts, I knew someone was going to say something, and it was going to turn out bad, and get taken down,” Lords said. “Pages like this always get taken down.”
Even to the Highland students who were on the account, it was obvious that it was going to be shut down, it was only a matter of time. However, to many, the biggest concern was not really what was said—although that was a big problem for Highland faculty and Instagram itself—it was the problem that it was anonymous. Highland students were finally able to say whatever they wanted about anyone with no consequences whatsoever.
“I find that if given a vice, many people will say many awful things about other people when they don’t have to put their name on it, and they don’t have to face the consequences,” Berry said. “I don’t think the account itself is a bad thing, I think it’s the people who are recognizing that they can use the account for hate speech and to say mean things about other people, that’s the problem.”
When people are able to say whatever they want with no punishment, or judgement, they tend to say mean and untrue things about people they dislike. Typically, in an attempt to make themselves feel better.
Highland Principal Jeremy Chatterton described it as being easy to say whatever someone wants to when there are no consequences to deal with. In life, there are always consequences for one’s actions, but online, with things being anonymous, they seem to disappear. When people can be unnamed and unidentified when saying inappropriate things about others, they feel emboldened to make things up or just say whatever they are thinking—whether it be fact or fiction.
Furthermore, by having the name of Highland in the name of the page (even just as HHS), it creates the idea that the school is running the page, and therefore is supporting everything said on it—which is not true.
“It’s HHS, so it has our name in it, and so technically you’re like representing the school in a way by saying ‘highland high school’ confessions, but what you’re posting should not be a representation of our school,” Lords said.
By including the school name in the page name, it devises the idea to viewers that the page has connections with Highland and is consequently agreeing with everything being posted about it’s students—which are morals that the school, teachers, and students itself shouldn’t support.
In a day and age where social media is everywhere, hating someone anonymously online is easier than talking to them in person, and using different names to hide behind, creates something seen too often, and a trap everyone becomes guilty of, but has detrimental effects.
The Highland Confessions pages were flagged by Instagram and was eventually taken down and banned a few months after it became a serious issue at Highland. Numerous students who were mentioned were affected by the posts that were on the page.
“I would encourage students to try and stay away from pages like that,” Chatterton said. “We have to make sure we’re taking care of ourselves and really think about how it is impacting [you] looking at that stuff. Really evaluate what looking at certain social media accounts is doing for [your] mental health.”