As students rush back to their respective apartments to change from gameday to going-out outfits, phones ping across the Forty Acres. News from that night’s game flood phones with pictures of Arch Manning celebrating a touchdown and impressive catches from Ryan Wingo.
Instagram accounts like @redcuptexas, @barstoollonghorn and @longhornchicks are student-run and not affiliated with UT, posting about anything from games, scores of different athletic departments, jokes on class registration and poking fun at events all around campus.
“It’s just more relatable,” history sophomore Thomas Edmonds said. “They’ll post about class registration being terrible and stuff that pretty much everyone here can relate to and find enjoyable. You’re more likely to follow it and engage with the account because it’s something that we all share as students here.”
The account @redcuptexas, ran by Blain Stockton, a journalism and sports media junior, focuses on students by encouraging photo or content submissions. After running his high school’s student section account, Stockton said he started running @redcuptexas on Jan. 12, 2024. Unlike other redcup accounts, Stockton said he makes a point to craft posts himself rather than with a team of people.
“(In the) early days, there (were) no submissions … it was kind of dead whenever I took over (and) not very active,” Stockton said. “There wasn’t a very strong submission base, but now it’s ‘Finally Friday,’ random campus stuff going on game day recap (and) funny stuff. It’s a fun thing to get posted on @redcuptexas now.”
In light of football season, a new starting quarterback and women’s volleyball back in action, these accounts shine a spotlight on wins and losses of Longhorn Athletics. Government senior Ryan Sobol, the student behind @barstoollonghorn, said he keeps it positive with posts for all sports, despite the outcome.
“The best way to do something like that is (to) just embrace the hurt,” Sobol said. “At the end of the day, I try to be a blind optimist … but always gunning for your players and your team, no matter how bad you think they might be doing, (I) just try to lift spirits and try to keep it positive.”
With posts related to dating, sports or pop culture, journalism junior Shayne Wollam, one of the admins for @longhornchicks, focuses on being relatable to the women around UT with the account.
“The main goal of the account is to be a source of entertainment, but also give students, especially like the female population of UT, something to relate to,” Wollam said. “We put a fun twist on things that maybe some guys won’t understand, (but) we would understand.”
These accounts strive to make students laugh and feel seen through their posts, whether it involves sports or academics. Some posts make memes out of sports teams, supporting them when they win and making fun of YikYak posts and comments.
“I want it to be light hearted,” Wollam said. “I want it to be a fun twist on the University. Obviously, we all love our university, but it is fun to make fun of it.”
