As seen in stereotypical high school movies, school can be filled with gossip, with arguably new rumors every day. A commonplace to find rumors is social media, as large numbers of people can see different information at once and repost it within seconds. With trends influencing much of what goes on in social media, a new trend found on Tiktok that incorporates rumors has been getting a lot of attention from students such as those at Yorba Linda High School.

In the TikTok videos exemplifying how these accounts work, the person first searches up a school name, often one that is from a different state, and makes an account with the school name in the title. Then the person titles the account, often dubbed a tea account or shade room. They then ask for messages about any gossip that they will then anonymously post by covering the person’s username. To gain publicity for their account the person searches the location of the school and follows Instagram accounts with that same tagged location. They will then look at the people’s followers and follow them, or just look for people that have that school name in their bio. 

After the account gains followers, oftentimes the creators of these accounts will reveal who they are and what state they are from as a surprise to their followers. This gives them more followers too, though exposing who they are can get them into trouble if the school wants to find out who made the account. 

Upon finding these accounts, it may be tempting to follow these people or send them a juicy “anonymous” text that they will post. However, as people were taught when they were children, it is never wise to trust strangers, as people don’t really know their intentions. This is indeed a very relevant statement, because there are many incidences where the creator of the account decided to reveal the names of the people without the sender’s consent. This caused anger against many, as they did not think that this would happen to them. 

A wise message you can get from this is to be kind on social media. Though you may think your actions are funny, they eventually will have consequences. It is mindful to note that what you post on social media stays there and often can circulate infinitely, so college board members could possibly see that you made an account like this. It could also damage people more than cause laughs, because although many of the comments are innocent jokes, some can be serious and hurt the person.

Many people who aren’t victims of this scroll through the posts, often finding it funny that somebody’s secret was revealed. However, when asked how they would feel if they were put on Maddie Liao (10) said “I would feel hurt, tea accounts aren’t a good idea because others can also get hurt.” This short-lived fad isn’t likely to last long though, as many accounts are now becoming inactive since nobody has anything new to say. Soon enough, a new trend will take its place, just like every other trend that has ever happened.