“Gossip Girl” hits Dreyfoos [UPDATE]
10 April 2014 ∙ Originally published in The Muse at Dreyfoos
The last thing students expected when logging onto Instagram thursday morning was a ‘new follower’ notification from an anonymous account calling itself ‘xoxodreyfoos.’ Taking cues from the iconic online gossip service featured in “Gossip Girl,” this account has threatened to expose Dreyfoos’ students private lives anonymously and, at least until the creator’s identity is discovered, without consequence.
“I’m tired of everyone getting what they want, so it’s time for a change. Everyone should know the true colors of their friends,” reads the first picture posted by the account, which also prompts students to “send a picture and what it’s worth to [the account’s] direct message on Instagram.”
After two students were targeted on a second picture, speculation as to who the anonymous account owner could be has built up, with rumors ratcheting up suspicion. The shock value brought upon by the post has rapidly worked its way up to administration, which has already started calling students down to the Student Services offices in an attempt to get to the bottom of the possible scandal. Until then, the account owner has shown no sign of revealing his/her identity any time soon, ending their first post with a tauntingly ominous “this should be fun. Xoxo Dreyfoos.”
UPDATE 4/15: The account posted a supposedly final picture apologizing to one of the targeted students. “I’m so sorry,” the post reads, “And everyone else I upset and hurt. This is my last post.” The picture was posted shortly before the account was deleted.
“We had a problem like this a couple years ago,” said assistant principal Leo Barrett, “we have administrators checking social media sites 24/7 now. There will be strong consequences [for whoever did this] since they are setting up a forum for hurting, bullying and harassing students online. We have no tolerance towards that kind of behavior.”
Mr. Barrett stated that administration will not be revealing the identity of the account owner as that would infringe the student’s legal privacy rights.
“We can’t control if students find out through word of mouth but we are not allowed to publicly announce it,” said Mr. Barrett.
While it makes sense the school would not want to overstep their legal boundaries, students claim they have a right to know who posted the pictures.
“We all deserve to know who has been saying these things, not so we can do anything but just out of respect for the students,” said dance senior Cassandra Console.
Conversely, other students believe revealing the account owner’s identity will simply add fuel to the fire.
“It would cause too much drama,” said digital media junior Amanda Chaplin, “once you know you’ll probably want to un-know it, anyway. It’s stooping to their level.”
While the shock and awe of the situation has died down since the deletion of the inflammatory account, students and administrators are still searching for the anonymous owner.