With 18% of online adults using Twitter in 2013, countless brands and organzations have rushed to establish their own handle. While some corporate brands like Taco Bell have used Twitter as a means of interacting with its followers, other companies like MasterCard have seen disastrous results on the website.
But Twitter isn't just home to big-name organizations and everyday users. Instead, many organizations that seemingly have no reason to exist on the platform maintain a presence anyways, offering up seemingly nothing useful to those who inexplicably choose to follow it. This is even true at Northwestern, where a variety of institutions, organizations and even fictional characters have their own handles.
Below, find five prime examples of the weirdest, wackiest and most pointless Northwestern Twitter handles.
@FrancesWillard
It is dark and rainy days such as this that make you appreciate a good lecture on temperance.
— Frances Willard (@FrancesWillard) October 15, 2014Give Francis Willard some credit. She lives on in Northwestern memory for a variety of reasons: partially for her efforts to promote woman's sufferage, partially for her fervent support of Prohibition, but mostly for providing her namesake to one of Northwestern's most popular dorms. Should you feel your love of such a notable figure wasn't sufficiently known in your social media feeds, a parody account of the woman's thoughts is just the ticket. You may not need her thoughts in your news feed, but should you ever realize your life is lacking in snide remarks about alcohol, this is the place to turn.
@NorthwesternFox
Two weeks until the students leave and I have the @NorrisCenter@FronteraFresco all to myself. #mwahahahaha
— Northwestern Fox (@NorthwesternFox) November 30, 2012The Northwestern Fox has been a bit of campus lore since its appearance on campus way back in 2012. While it's fun for those who had the chance to see the fox in its glory days, having an entire Twitter handle dedicated to our foxy friend's thoughts seems a bit contrived. Whomever created the account seems to have acknowledged this fact, as the account hasn't sent a Tweet since September 24, 2013. Nevertheless, should you feel the desire to get into the thoughts of campus's finest feline friend (Willie the Wildcat nonwithstanding), there's a Twitter account for that.
@DailyNUonIt
GUYS, many students drink several alcohols on Dillo Day, and The Daily is ON IT. http://t.co/57gft9yIYH Happy Dillo Eve!
— The Daily Is On It (@DailyNUOnIt) May 31, 2014The Daily Northwestern, as Northwestern's longest-running publication, is often parodied across the campus media landscape. The Flipside's website is a direct copy of the Daily's web design, in addition to advertising with the hashtag #notthedaily. Not wanting to miss out on the chance to pile on to the publication, Twitter account "The Daily is on it" takes the Daily's most absurd stories and publishes them with sarcastic commentary. Closing most Tweets with "and the Daily is ON IT," the page takes the publication's most self-serious posts and gives them the heavy-hitting approach they deserve. The world may not need another voice teasing this long-standing tradition, but that doesn't make this handle any less wonderful.
@NUSaferide
If you're going to want a ride tonight, now would be a good time to request it
— SafeRide (@NUSafeRide) November 1, 2014Arguably, the Twitter account managed by Saferide makes sense: those interested in finding out how long it might take to get a ride could turn to the handle for such information. That being said, given that the handle does literally nothing but Tweet the approximate wait time to get a ride, it feels pretty pointless for it to even exist. Sure, you may want to know how long you'll be stuck taking care of your too-drunk friend before you can throw them into a Saferide, but are you going to turn to Twitter to access that information?
@NorthwesternRO
Happy First Monday in #November please be aware that the #Winter2015 quarter schedule goes live today. #NU#Evanston
— NU Registrar (@NorthwesternRO) November 3, 2014Right this moment, you're probably dying to know what breaking updates the registrar office has to share with the world. No? Then you may not want to follow the Twitter account managed by Northwestern's Registrar Office, which seems to have very little to say. The account mostly serves to retweet information from other Northwestern-related Twitter handles. When it does get into original content, it's simple messages like "Happy Halloween!" something nobody really needs to see in their feed.