As much as I would like to provide a musical rendition of social media, I don’t have the ability. As a student here at West Texas A&M University, I am aware of the often humorous parody accounts of various services on campus. Accounts like @WTAMUPOLICE, @WTspirit, and even an account for the campus squirrels, @wtsquirrels, have a combined follower count of 2,793 followers on Twitter. None of these accounts are official WTAMU social media accounts, clearly informing those of their satirical nature.

The @WTAMUPOLICE twitter account could be mistaken for the actual WTAMU Police Twitter, @WTAMU_Police account. The parody account even uses the same profile picture. However, it is clearly stated in the bio of @WTAMUPOLICE that it is a parody account. This caveat is the saving grace for any parody account. By doing so, parody accounts can claim satire if any legal trouble comes their way.

On Twitter, there are bigger parody accounts of various celebrities and political figures. There is one of President Trump that, at a glance, looks like an official account. Social media users can take what these accounts are saying as fact. It is imperative that before retweeting that you make sure that the account is official.

The unofficial WTAMU accounts exist to share student experiences. The accounts, in a way, express some of the often unsaid thoughts of students. The anonymity of the accounts allows the user(s) to provide crude or inappropriate views on topics or events around campus. Or you can gain insight into the numerous squirrels that inhabit our school grounds.

The account @WTAMUPOLICE covers topics that you might see the actual campus police post about. Most of the recent posts of the parody account cover the recent snowstorm. The posts jokingly mock students’ abilities to drive in hazardous weather and the lack of the need for on-campus students to park.

@WTspirit is an account for users to share in their WTAMU pride and excitement. The posts on the page consist of campus goings-on and upcoming events. The page is dedicated to “answering questions” that students may have while not being directly tied to the school. Think of it as an unofficial help desk. The page has more of a focus than the traditional parody or unofficial affiliate account.

Now there’s @wtsquirrels. While the most intriguing account I came across, it has been inactive. The last post on the account was August 30. The page, along with @WTAMUPOLICE is a parody account poking fun something that students have poked fun at a time.

These accounts intend to merely poke fun at or joke about social issues or figures. Whatever these accounts say or produce are products of their own and don’t reflect the views of whatever they are parodying.

The good nature of these accounts can give us all a laugh, an exasperated sigh or quick shot of air out the nose. They’re not to be taken seriously. The art of parody is the social commentary that is provided in a comical way. It allows us to delve deeper into the ideas of society, and on a more local scale, the thoughts of a campus squirrel.