Genevieve Ott
In the November issue, the Hereford Harbinger speculated on the identity of Hereford Confessions, the anonymous Twitter account that posts “HZ Secrets.” After the identity of the Hereford Confessions writer was discovered, the Hereford Harbinger arranged for an exclusive follow-up interview.
Hereford Confessions has 413 followers on Twitter, about a fourth of the school population, after three months. Many haven’t jumped from the sinking Facebook to S.S. Twitter and yet the “HZ Secrets” tweets are common conversation points among students. While Hereford Confessions takes humorous angles on topics such as girls’ dangerously short homecoming dresses and teachers’ epithets, the anonymous tweeter’s identity is discussed more than the comical content.
Every student on Twitter seems to have their own guesses (or at least clues and leads) and Hereford Confessions has deliberately posted tweets that throw followers off the trail. The writer said,”I tweet things from the perspective of other grades,” referencing tweets about Horror Day during Spirit Week and the PSATs. “I do something relevant to all the other [grades].”
Between her controversial tweets and secret identity, Hereford Confessions certainly gives “people something to talk about.” Despite shoutouts demanding a reveal, she probably won’t expose herself until graduation. She reasoned that this protects her reputation. She said, “If I post something that isn’t funny, people will judge me.” Either way, Hereford Confessions will receive judgment. “Some people think I’m really obnoxious,” she said with a laugh. “I think it’s funny.”
A lighthearted outlook on life is essential to surviving high school, a theme of Hereford Confession’s tweets. “Everybody takes everything so seriously,” she said. “Hereford’s such a small community, and it’s nice to be able to laugh about ourselves.” Without humor and inside jokes—as well as Hereford Confession’s documentation—Hereford’s everyday occurrences wouldn’t be as striking.
Hereford Confessions tries “to be sensitive about what she posts,” but has somehow made enemies with another anonymous Hereford Twitter, Hereford Problems. “I didn’t know there was HZ Probs,” said the Hereford Confessions writer. “I apologized and offered to change my icon from a cow since our tweets aren’t the same,” Hereford Confessions said of Hereford Problems’ confrontation. “They said don’t message me again, don’t even bother.” The cow icons remain on both accounts and Hereford Confessions frequently attaches pictures of cows to her tweets.
Concerned with approval, Hereford Confessions was worried about the account’s popularity when she created the account. “I was freaking out about it at first because no one liked it,” she said. But now with a quarter of the school following her Twitter, she’s thankful for the support. And as for some of her more harsh tweets, “Most of it is sarcastic, I don’t actually hate people.”
Even when Hereford Confessions is complaining about people’s reactions to the election or trashing penny wars, she wants people to know this: “I’m really appreciative of people actually liking the Twitter.”
