As the fall 2022 semester begins, Case Western Reserve University welcomes over 1,500 new first-year and transfer students to their undergraduate programs. By this point, the incoming students have almost made it through Discover Week and are becoming better acquainted with campus life. As Social Media Editor at The Observer, I thought it could be helpful for the new students if The Observer created a general guide on how to stay connected, informed and entertained online at CWRU—a campus social media orientation, if you will. There are many different social media platforms that the CWRU community uses and follows, but this guide will just cover some of the more popular ones that newcomers may find useful in their journey. 

Instagram

Currently, it seems like Instagram is the most popular social media platform for CWRU’s campus; from student groups and clubs to meme accounts to official CWRU-run profiles for academic departments and organizations. One of the best things about Instagram is its varying content since it is so widely used on our campus. If you are considering joining a club or organization on campus, Instagram is arguably the best way to find out information like meeting times, upcoming events and even just the general vibe of the group. 

If you’re also looking for accounts to keep you updated on campus events and general information, @usgcwru and @upbcwru are two great starting points. Undergraduate Student Government (USG) works with CWRU administration to improve campus and student life, so their Instagram is a good way to stay up to date about what USG is working on. The University Programming Board (UPB) puts on events like UPBeats concerts, and offers all kinds of giveaways throughout the school year, so it is definitely beneficial to keep up with them via their Instagram. And of course, this is the point in the article where I shamelessly plug The Observer’s Instagram account (@cwruobserver). If you’re interested in joining a new club or in receiving updates from us about campus life, consider adding The Observer to your Instagram feed!

Moving on to some assorted accounts for entertainment and staying connected with other CWRU students online, one of the biggest Instagram accounts at CWRU is @cwrumissedconnections. The CWRU Missed Connections account allows students to anonymously send a message to the account if they see someone around campus and want to throw out a compliment, or shout out someone specific they know at the university. If meme accounts are more your speed, look no further than @cwruaffirmations. A campus favorite, this account posts some great content that you can, in the words of its anonymous admins, “Repost to claim your affirmations!” 

Facebook

While a lot of us probably associate Facebook with older family members and their Minions memes, it can actually be a pretty useful campus resource. One of the primary reasons I even log into Facebook is to see new posts on the “Case Western Reserve University (CASE) Housing, Sublets & Roommates” group. If you’re looking for a new apartment as your lease or sublease ends, a roommate or want to buy furniture and other general apartment/dorm items, this is the page for you! 

There’s also the classic meme page, which is currently named, “Case Western Memes for Omicron Variant-Avoiding Beans.” This Facebook group has some of the best CWRU-themed memes made by students, for students. Anyone can contribute a meme, so this is a great way to meet some friends with your same Internet humor.

YikYak

Now onto a slightly more obscure social media app, YikYak. This platform anonymously displays posts from everyone that uses the app within a five-mile radius of the user, making it an incredibly popular social media app among college campuses. The anonymity can lead to some unwanted drama and discourse, but it can also be a fun way to read silly jokes about CWRU—think of it like a curated Twitter feed that only shows Tweets related to CWRU. If these perks have still not convinced you to download the app, you can always follow the @yikyakcwru Instagram account, which posts some of the funniest CWRU-related Yaks.

Evidently, there are a ton of different informative and entertaining social media platforms and accounts at CWRU, but this guide sums up a few that I find to be the most practical and widely used. Whether you’re looking to join a new club, learn about events, meet new people or just have a laugh at some CWRU memes, the aforementioned platforms and accounts are some of the best that CWRU has to offer.