Amanda Battle

     “Plot twist: there’s a torrential downpour in the gym tonight as well. Shawties, attempt to get low and slip in the puddles #hz_secrets,” tweeted anonymous Hereford Confessions on the Friday night before the homecoming dance.

     Twitter, a social networking app where users post the things most relevant to their lives, has become the new source of information on what is going on in the Hereford Zone. On September 20th, the Hereford Confessions twitter account made its mark to fame by tweeting for the very first time and sparking investigation among Hereford students on whom exactly is the account author.

     For those who aren’t so Twitter-savvy, the social network is known for its usage of hash tags, which are represented with the # symbol. Hash tags are used on twitter to relay the underlying meaning of the tweet, to emphasize a certain phrase, or provide a category or subject. Hereford Confessions ends every tweet with the hash tag #hz_secrets.

     Along with the catch-phrase hash tag, the anonymous writer has sparked interest among followers. With its witty remarks, it has become a source of truth and criticism about events.

     Twitter allows followers, those who read twitter accounts on a daily basis, the choice to favorite (similar to “liking” on Facebook) or retweet things they like on their timeline, which is similar to the newsfeed on Facebook. Hereford Confessions has received positive feedback from its followers. As of October 24th, Hereford Confessions had posted only 67 tweets, but had recieved 294 favorites and 178 retweets .

     Whomever is the author, the quick wit and comical view of Hereford High appears to be appreciated by students.

     Some popular tweets during spirit week were:

     “I hope that one day I can be as happy as Mr. Hartshorn is on spirit week. #hz_secrets,”

     “Maybe for horror day tomorrow I can dress up like my sat scores #hz_secrets”

     Hereford Confessions’ tweets underscore the Republican Party’s dominance in the Hereford Zone and the confederate political view that permeates our area.

     Followers still face the question of who is writing these tweets, and why? The author of these tweets has kept followers on their toes, tweeting personal things, but never revealing anything that could expose giveaways to her identity.

     “A lot of my friends think it’s a certain sophomore girl, because there’s a picture on her Facebook that looks like it came from the same photo strip as the Hereford Confessions’ Twitter cover photo. The picture has now been ‘randomly’ deleted,” said Meta Kate Mooney (12).

     To address accusations made against the Field Hockey girls, Christiana Janecek (12), who is on the team, said, “Even though HZ Secrets is pretty witty, Hereford Hockey girls aren’t responsible.”

     Some conclusions on the identity of Hereford Confessions can be made based on the tweets’ content. The writer of the account has to be at least a sophomore because on the #nationalboyfriendday tweet, she included a picture of Principal Mr. Andrew Last from an edition of The Hereford Harbinger last year. The only way one could obtain this photo would be from the newspaper where it was published. The author had to have taken a photo of the published picture and attached it to the tweet.

     The tweeter must be female. “It must be a girl because it seems catty, and girls are catty,” Charlotte Thompson (12) said. Tweets such as “Gosh the girls bathroom was crowded today I hope it’s because people were writing ‘you are beautiful’ on the stalls #hz_secrets,” “truth is I saw the hair in my cafeteria pizza but I just convinced myself it was mine and kept eating #hungrygirl #hz_secrets,” and “funny story I had spirit week for a week and now I don’t know how to dress myself #fashionimpaired” also hint towards the tweeter’s gender.

     Despite the tweet about dressing for horror day, which was the seniors’ dress theme, the account user is mostly likely not a senior. Seniors are the only grade that do not take the PSAT. Hereford Confessions posted the night before the PSAT’s, “I swear if they give us PSAT twizzlers tomorrow they better fricking be the pull and peel kind or I’m so outta there. #hz_secrets.”

     Prior to that tweet, Hereford Confessions posted, “There were seniors making out in front of my locker today so I shut her hair in the door 🙂 #hz_secrets.” The way the tweet refers to the couple as seniors intimates that she is not a senior, since otherwise she would not have specified a grade.

     Whomever the author, she has to be in GT or Honors English, because of her tweets on September 30th, the night before summer reading was due for semesterized English students. AP English classes are year-long; so the summer reading assignment is due for them on the first day of class.

     As everyone’s personal investigations continue, one thing is for sure—Hereford Confessions’ anonymity adds to its interest. Perhaps a truly anonymous, comic news source isn’t the worst thing that has happened to Hereford.