Twitter is definitely a fun little app to have on your phone. It allows you to speak your mind (in 140 characters or less), discover new things, and most importantly, keep up with friends and current world events. Usually you’ll find people quickly swiping through their feeds while walking, trying to update themselves on the world around them before class rudely rips their phones away. Well, at least that’s my roommate Lauren and I.
If you had asked me a month ago if I would be running my university’s verified Twitter account, I would have laughed in your face. Me? I’m certainly no social media expert. I mean, I just recently started getting over one hundred likes on my Instagram pictures and that was a big deal to me. I mainly use social media to try to be entertaining. Emphasis on “try.” This consists of me embarrassing myself, retweeting funny gifs, venting to the internet (who doesn’t care about my problems, I’m sure), and poking fun at my close friends. All of these things are totally normal for your average teenage girl, ask anyone.
So, how exactly did my roommate and I gain full control over Trinity University’s Twitter account anyway? It’s still a shock to me.
On August 8th, Trinity tweeted a pic of a sad Michael Phelps with the caption “when your roommate eats your ice cream…” Of course Lauren, my stark opposite, had to make fun of the fact that I was once vegan by quoting the tweet with “not a problem if she’s vegan & all you’ve got is Bluebell.” And that folks was the start of it all. We quickly had Trinity’s attention.
After stalking my extremely hilarious Twitter (at least that’s what everyone tells me), Taylor from Trinity’s Marketing Department direct messaged me asking if I wanted to take over Trinity’s account. I’ll let you know that I was completely taken aback by this question. Why me??? Apparently a tweet that I posted months ago solidified their choice. They needed my personality to be the voice of the university. Once they found out that Lauren and I are connected at the hip, suddenly we were the Twitter Takeover Twins.
Now, we weren’t just handed the password and sent off to conquer the world. Before the official takeover could begin, we met with Marketing, discussed our roles, and signed contracts saying we wouldn’t do anything to get them fired. I’m not kidding. This meeting was Tuesday afternoon and it was decided that the account would be ours from Wednesday, August 24th to the following Wednesday. Y’all, I’m not gonna lie, I totally thought this would be a chill one day thing. I instantly became stressed about the fact that I was expected to be funny for an entire week. I’m pretty sure even Amy Schumer has her off days, right??
It was announced later that day that we would be taking over at 8:00 the following morning. Within hours, the Marketing Department’s email was popping. People wanted the story and they wanted it now. Let it be known that we hadn’t even been given the password yet, so what the heck were we supposed to talk about to reporters?!
Wednesday morning. This was it. Our time to shine. I actually had a twenty minute phone call about what to tweet with my mom before sending out that first tweet anxiously. You may not understand the nerves, but there was a lot riding on this. There were high expectations. The fact that this was the first time that Trinity had ever done this only added more pressure. I closed my eyes and hit “tweet.”
When I was told I was going to be tweeting as Trinity University, I didn’t think much would come out of it. Honestly, I thought people would think it was hacked. I didn’t think that the fact that it was Lauren and I would be so heavily advertised. I was very, very wrong. Even Trinity’s President, Danny Anderson had something to say about it.
On Thursday, I used the power of having a verified account to my advantage. While our Twitter madness was just getting started, fellow sophomore Isaiah Speck’s had been blowing up for days. He wrote and performed the infamous “Whataburger vs In-N-Out” rap as part of the #SoGoneChallenge and it quickly spread like wildfire. Isaiah made it onto the news and even gained attention from the almighty Whataburger itself. I couldn’t just ignore this, obviously! Trinity jokingly requested burgers in exchange for Isaiah and Whataburger heard the call. Around 1:30, Whataburger’s Social Media Team and mascot was front and center in Trinity’s Admissions. They surprised Isaiah, handed out burger vouchers, and ya girl got Whataburger for a year for getting their attention. Super cool, but I was late to my first 2:10 of the year. Sorry, prof.
Remember when I mentioned that the Marketing Department’s email was popping? This would result in Lauren and I having three interviews (as of right now, but I’m sorta pooped and hoping our fifteen minutes is over). The first was on that Wednesday. Texas Public Radio called us and we filled them in on the whole story. After this, my inbox was full. By Friday, this story brought KSAT News reporter Josh Skurnik and his cameraman to our dorm at eight-thirty in the morning. I was mic’d up, sweaty, and totally unsure how to be on the news. After talking to us for about 40 minutes, they were good to go and Lauren and I rushed off to our 9:30 class. After I got out of class at 10:20, I rushed (it was a sweaty day) to meet with KENS5 reporter Bryan Wendland to do it all over again. I did my thing and Lauren did her’s about an hour later; the two were mashed together for the final product.
KENS5’s story aired at 5:00, followed by KSAT’s at 6:00. It’s super weird to see yourself on the news, not gonna lie. I screamed. If you think you’re awkward, just wait. It gets worse. Both of the stories turned out great, in my own personal unbiased opinion. Fun fact: they both made us walk around with our phones for like five minutes straight to capture us in a “natural habitat.” There’s nothing stranger than being filmed while walking. Trust me.
I look at this experience as a once in a lifetime type of thing so obviously I’m gonna have some fun with it. I’ve been acting like a total diva, saying annoying things like “we didn’t choose the fame, the fame chose us,” and basically getting on everyone’s nerves. I’d like to take a second to say I love everyone and I’m so very sorry that you don’t have a sense of humor (*insert winking emoji*). But in all seriousness, this has been a ton of fun. I’m honored that Trinity has trusted us with such a big responsibility and has allowed us to set the precedence for future takeovers. Even before this process began, I loved the idea. Trinity has always been a step above the rest and it’s marketing tactics just further prove this. What better way to get the perspective of a student than to give a student the reins? Genius.
A huge thank you to Trinity, President Anderson, Dean Tuttle, Taylor Stakes, Michelle Bartonico, and the Marketing Department as a whole for this opportunity. Oh and to Lauren Pettinati, the best roommate and my partner in crime.
Did you get this far? Are you my mom and/or grandma? No? Wow, kudos to you, friend. I’m gonna go charge my phone now. For some reason it’s been dying super quickly...
