iNflUencers

Weinberg first-year Zevi Davis has gotten used to being approached. At Wildcat Welcome, in the elevator on move-in day and even outside an Evanston gas station, people have come up to Davis, recognizing him from social media. The Weinberg first-year was once even asked for his autograph. He used a Sharpie to sign his name on the side of a Monster Energy drink. 

Davis’ claim to fame? Videos of himself playing GeoGuessr — an online game where players have to guess a location based on Google Maps imagery — which he posts to Instagram and TikTok, where he has amassed over 3,200 TikTok followers. 

Davis is part of a growing cohort of college students who double as influencers, aspiring to go viral. At Northwestern, there are dozens of such content creators, who have anywhere from hundreds to millions of followers. These influencers say they use their platforms in a variety of ways: as a “digital diary,” to promote their businesses or to explore their passions.

Medill second-year Mfaz Mohamed Ali has 3.2 million followers on TikTok and makes skits and comedy content, mostly about classes, professors and relatable college experiences. She started posting in 2020 and reached a million followers in one year.

Ali has a specific strategy to ensure virality. 

“It has to be something that’s fresh, something that’s trendy, something that matches my niche, matches my page and matches the theme I have going on,” Ali says. 

Some of her videos include “That one TA who’s just as lost,” “POV: you’re reading that one dramatic syllabus” and “Trying to do homework in April/May.” Along with attempting to follow trends, Ali posts at peak hours and uses relevant hashtags to promote virality.

McCormick second-year Hana Gutierrez posts videos discussing her observations and childhood memories and has grown an audience of nearly 400,000 followers on Instagram. The platform is a place for Gutierrez to explore her love of filmmaking. She also used it to get an internship this past summer in Los Angeles.

Still, when Gutierrez had her first viral moment, she recalls being filled with fear.

“I was getting hundreds of DMs from random people I didn’t know, hundreds of comments, and all of a sudden … it became really real,” Gutierrez says. “Hundreds of thousands of people were seeing my face.” 

Some college students also try to build their businesses using social media. McCormick first-year Hub Varith started a company called Infinite X, which makes hearing aids. He posted his first video on Aug. 31, introducing his startup and plans for social media. Since then, he has amassed over 30,000 followers on Instagram. 

Despite his initial shock at the quick growth, Varith has big plans for his platform. As an international student from Thailand, he felt there wasn’t any information about Northwestern from the perspective of Thai creators. 

“Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, they have videos, but not Northwestern,” Varith says. “So, I think with my platform, I can further promote and allow other groups of people to learn more about Northwestern.”

McCormick third-year Crystal Cooper had a similar motivation to start posting: She felt there was not a lot of information online about the University’s social life. She posts dancing videos and lifestyle content to over 12,300 followers on TikTok. 

“You can definitely find information about stats, academically, but not really the type of people that are there,” Cooper says. “As someone who was an incoming freshman, I genuinely couldn’t find anything, and it caused me a lot of stress.” 

Some of Cooper’s content includes chronicling Northwestern’s pros and cons, advice for incoming first-years and “get ready with me” videos for events like sorority rush and formals. Cooper says she has been recognized on campus for these videos, and, despite a little embarrassment, it always makes her happy to know her videos are helping people.

“I think posting on TikTok is not deep at all, and more people should,” Cooper says. 

Print design by Julia Volman. Photos by Carter Nishi