From “@sackoftroy”, to “@wearescaf”, USC has had its fair share of parody Instagram accounts. One account in particular has students on the edge of their seat, waiting to see if they have been featured.
“@usc.missedconnections” on Instagram allows students to submit an encounter they have had with another person, and reveal what they may have been too shy to say in the moment.
Now averaging almost 10,000 followers, the account has posted 654 times, with about 10 slides per post.The first post dates back to late September of 2020, with the caption, “Zoom university is making it hard to make those special connections. How do you say hi over the camera? Is it weird to hit people up on Instagram for their snap when you’ve never met?”
No one knows who created the account, however, it has impacted many students as they have written, or received a shout out within the posts.
Noah Hernandez, a Sophomore studying Environmental Studies, enjoys the account and its content.
NOAH HERNANDEZ: I think it’s really entertaining, it’s funny now just because it’s like we are in-person, but people still are scared to approach other people in public, me included. So it’s just like a fun way to like hit on your crush anonymously.
An example of a more recent connection that was submitted reads, “to the tall dude in the brown jacket who held the elevator door for me (a pretty tall girl with white converse, a light blue hoodie, and a skateboard) on Monday, April 18th at around 1pm -you’re the cutest person I’ve ever seen. please do me the honor of getting coffee with me :)”.
While some connections have remained missed, students like Hernandez have seen actual relationships form from a post.
HERNANDEZ: I think it can be like actually used for like, you know, like kind of a dating app. Like I have seen I guess like a, like a mutual friend posted like they actually got together after using like the missed connections thing. So I guess it does work for some people
Ivy Li, a freshman studying Political Science on Pre-Law feels that the account is a great way to meet students, and a fun way to connect with others.
IVY LI: Like, there’s nothing really negative on, you know, on any of those comments unless it’s like a personal subjective, like you take it the wrong way kind of thing. So I think it’s kind of nice if you get to just see something about yourself that’s a little uplifting and positive.
As the semester comes to a close, now is the best time to send in a post... you don’t know when you’ll run into your mystery campus crush again. For more information on how to submit a connection, you can visit the “usc.missedconnections” Instagram and click the link in their bio.