Several students have taken to social media to share humorous and relevant content about campus life.
Accounts ranging from Nicki Minaj memes to pictures of feet have popped up over the past few months, fostering a sense of community among students surrounding GW-specific aspects of college life. Here are some promising student-run accounts:
@gwu_affirmations
Launched in April this year, @gwu_affirmations posts sarcastic “affirmations” that highlight aspects of GW culture, such as the Vern Express and a recent mold outbreak on campus. The Instagram account, which has over 2,600 followers, posts GW-related images covered in graphics, glitter and text.
The owner of the student account spoke to The Hatchet on the condition of anonymity to keep his identity hidden from his followers.
“I think it’s more fun that way,” the account owner said. “I can interact with my friends through affirmations and they won’t have a clue it’s me. Or I end up talking to people I don’t think I end up talking to otherwise because our classes and our social circles are so different.
The student said he was inspired by @nyuaffirmations to launch the GW version of the account.
Going forward, @gwu_affirmations plans to coordinate fundraisers to use the platform as a philanthropic tool, but details have yet to be finalized. After these fundraisers, the account owner said he would likely reveal his identity and stop posting on the account.
The account owner said knowing their posts made other students laugh brings them joy.
“People reach out and say I made them laugh or made their day and it makes me really happy to know that,” the account owner said.
@foggybottombarbz
Avid Nicki Minaj listeners should look no further than @foggybottombarbz on Instagram for some GW-related Minaj memes. With just under 700 followers, the account chronicles Nicki Minaj’s fictional sightings on the Foggy Bottom campus through clever photoshop.
Barbz, a passionate cult of Minaj’s fanbase, flocked to the account. The account claims to be run by “the real minaj” but the post captions alternate between first and third person.
The account was first posted on August 25 photoshopping Minaj, who they called Ms. Petty, on Kogan Plaza. The people of GW reacted with comments thanking the account for its “service” and made internal references to Nicki Minaj and her fan base.
Other posts include images, like this one of Minaj pictured in a lecture hall at the Elliott School of International Affairs with math watermarks and the location set as “ECON.” Another post features Minaj photoshopped in a Vex-like bus with the caption “mami Minaj has decided to fulfill her biannual philanthropic activities by blessing the verne plebeians with her presence. Mom is so nice.
The account owner did not return a request for comment.
@gwufeet
You probably haven’t seen anything quite like this foot-centric Instagram page. A five-member team runs @gwufeet and their job is to collect consensus foot picture submissions from students through their DMs. Feeturing, as they call it in their Instagram bio, of students’ feet has grown in popularity during the pandemic among those with a distinct sense of humor.
The account creator, who wishes to remain anonymous to be consistent with the anonymous nature of the account, began posting at the start of the last academic year as a way to induce humor at a time when most students were far from the campus.
“It’s important to remember that not everything in life has to be serious and I think this story is a great example of that,” they said.
Satirical captions, designed by the account creator, accompany each post. A post features a singular lost Crocs shoe with the caption, “LOST SHOE FOUND NEAR UNIVERSITY STUDENT CENTER!!!! Cinderella must have been late to prom (camilla cabello version obviously) and was in a hurry to sing along with her mouse friends.
“I can’t believe how passionate GW students are about their feet,” they said. “I get submissions every day of feet that they want to appear on the account. There was a void in the GW community where people who love feet weren’t represented and this account filled that void.
@gwblackmold
As a mold outbreak swept through campus early last month, @gwblackmold on TikTok gained thousands of followers for its topical and humorous mold content.
Created by sophomore Elle Kleinfeld, @gwublackmold has racked up over 2,700 subscribers, with videos garnering 3,000-800,000 views each.
Reviewers often try to help each other identify mold and bubbling paint that may indicate a mold problem.
The account has only posted 16 videos, each of which connects the mold outbreak to another relevant issue, whether it’s as simple as a popular TikTok audio or as complex as the norovirus outbreak in Georgetown.
A video features the TikTok audio “Uh who are you? I’m Pam, who are you? I’m the owner of this house. The TikTok shows the owner of the account entering her residence with the caption “We just got back from class a Random Wednesday,” followed by an image of black mold with Photoshopped eyes and mouth to match the “I own this house,” part of the audio.
This article originally appeared in the October 11, 2021 issue of The Hatchet.
