Churning through students Instagram algorithms are numerous accounts dedicated to student life at Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech). Anonymous and student run, each account is dedicated to capturing a different niche of student life on campus. 

There’s @fths.shlumped, for pictures of people who fall asleep in class, @fthsmfseating for pics of people eating and so on. At one point, there was an account dedicated to trash on the floor at Foothill. These student “paparazzi” aren’t exclusive to Foothill Tech; the concept was trending on TikTok before it became local. 

@fthscutecouples was among the first to emerge. Inspired by Buena High School’s couples account, @fthscutecouples posts pictures of students “ships”, or couples. This account seems like it would cause a lot of problems, but it’s not quite what you think.

“I actually am not the one that ships people, I just post things that people send me,” explains the anonymous student who runs @fthscutecouple. The account isn’t taken too seriously by the student body, most of the submissions are just jokes among friends. 

The majority of these accounts are anonymous and @fthsedits likes it that way. The account administrator explains that anonymity, “keeps the focus more on the account rather than the creator.” But @fthsedits isn’t worried about staying anonymous. They’ve been making videos since 2015 and this account, dedicated to “fan edits” of students, is just an extension of that. 

The consensus among these student-run accounts is that if anyone asks them to take a post down, they’ll remove it—no questions asked. 

“In almost all of the ‘fths-accounts’ I’ve seen, they offer to take down posts. I feel that this is an important thing to do when creating these accounts,” @fthsedits explains, “because it gives the person posted the ability to speak up and acknowledge that they have a voice. And if they don’t feel comfortable being on an account then they have the right to have [the post] taken down.” 

Account administrator of @fthsmfseating has a similar viewpoint, “I don’t want people to think that I’m doing this to make fun of people. It’s more of a fun account to have some smiles and laughs.” 

With less time in person for most students and classes speckled with absences, these accounts allow the student body to stay connected with the reminisce of what the internet was meant for a decade ago: blurry pictures of your classmates looking stupid.