CCHS ducks take the school by storm

BY ALEXANDRA SANSONE

Social media has been a solace and a distraction for many students around the world. After all, scrolling through Instagram to view memes is always more appealing when one is meant to be studying for midterms.

Text posts and memes flood nearly every virtual platform, many of whose existing accounts are dedicated to exclusively posting those items. While CCHS is attached to many social media handles through the schools large number of teams and clubs, students have began creating amusing accounts on their own. One in particular rapidly gaining popularity goes by the under name cchs_duckies.

“It came up as a suggested follower on my instagram,” sophomore Julia Safrin said. “It just popped up on my feed, and I was like what is this?”

With 349 followers so far, the cchs_duckies Instagram account has sparked amused conversation around campus. The account is dedicated to the Muscovy duck population at CCHS and posts pictures of the ducks in various locations around the school. The appeal of the account seems to lie in simplicity of it. It stems from something that many would write off as unimpressionable, yet has achieved quite the opposite reaction.

“I am in love with it,” sophomore Amelia Wesley said. “It is probably my favorite account ever.”

The original creators, who wish to remain anonymous, shared the simple idea behind the account, to share their love for ducks.

“I started it because I just wanted a place to put my favorite duck pictures,” one of the account owners said. “But then my friend wanted to join in and we started posting a bit more.”

The big question circulating around the account is not necessarily why ducks, but instead focuses on figuring out the hidden identity of its owners. Ever since their first post in November, the amount of people looking at the account steadily increased. At the 100 follower mark, they began to receive duck photograph submissions to add to their feed.

“I love a little bit of mystery,” WesIey said. “I hope that they one day reveal their identity.”

While the secrecy about what happens backstage may be what is attracting some students the account owners are taking advantage of their audience to promote a issue close to their hearts.

“It was never the initial purpose, [but] we have found ourselves speaking up against the mistreatment of these ducks,” the account owners said. “The way people are kicking them or even choking them is disheartening, so we now use the platform to speak up.”

Their final comments to their followers include a big thank you for following their “strange” account coupled with a request to let them reveal their identities when they are ready.

Photo by Ben Milgram