Released in 2010, Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms with over 500 million daily users. Unlike apps like Facebook, Instagram has a strong presence in the lives of young people, specifically high school students. Our school is no exception. In recent months, various Instagram accounts have popped up that report on and satirize the daily happenings of our school. Here are some of these accounts: the good, the bad and the weird.

The class planning accounts

The first entries on our list, these four accounts are responsible for your standard memes. Much like how a lazy student begins an poorly-written essay, Merriam-Webster defines a meme as “an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from one person to another in a culture.” What separates them from @wootton_memes, however, is that they are all divided by class. The freshman, sophomore and senior accounts (@ilove_freshplanning, @ilovesophplanning and @ilove_splanning) are mostly all memes, with posts ranging from jabs directed at other classes to relatable commentary on students’ lives. Despite these three accounts following a similar path, the junior account (@ilovejplanning) has branched off to become a hub of pet pictures. Akin to @weratedogs, a highly successful Instagram page started in 2015, @ilovejplanning provides their own scores for pets, though each and every picture obviously receives a high ranking. I love the personality that each class exhibits.

@woottonbadparking

The title pretty much sums it up. This account focuses on the terrible parking seen in the already terrible parking lot. I use this account as a motivator, telling myself every morning to not wind up on the page of shame. Though some of their selections are obvious, others are questionable. I’m not sure I’d call unstraightened wheels “bad parking,” but maybe that’s just me. Otherwise, this page really makes me question what the MVA was thinking. Given that the driver’s test in recent months was just parking, how did some of you get your licenses? I’m concerned for a lot of you. Regardless, it’s a funny page with a funny premise.

@woottonaffirmations

Following in the footsteps of the much larger @afffirmations, @woottonaffirmations is an account dedicated to the localization of such memes. For those unaware, an affirmation is a motivational social media post. In recent months, however, parodies of the original format have been widespread across the internet. An affirmation consists of a photo, some text and a sparkly filter. Being one of the first school-related Instagram accounts to appear this year, almost immediately the page began to gain traction. Their second post alone, which reads “[I] will not jump off the [C]ommons bridge,” has amassed over 300 likes. As with all of the other accounts on this list, the person or people behind this remain shrouded in mystery. Nonetheless, I applaud the creativity.