Comedy is the best medicine, and @unewhavenbarstool provides students their doses through Instagram content. Ball-girl tackles, presidential mask scandals, the great flood of the first-year quad and worshipping a package store’s “welcome back UNH students” poster—all humourous content that University of New Haven students find first-hand on the account.

The account has been active since December 2020, and according to the account’s anonymous operator, it “was created to target a demographic of people (unewhaven students) to make relatable content for the students.”

The account’s spokesperson agreed to an interview only if their anonymity—which is integral to maintaining the brand’s content—was honored.

The account admins take submissions of humorous videos or posts from students, and votes on which ones will be published to the account.

“If it’s unanimous we post it,” said the spokesperson.

The official Barstool Sports brand was founded by Dave Portnoy—nicknamed “El Presidente” by the Barstool community—who has become a “widely known sports media American Celebrity” according to an article by ValiantCEO.

The platform reports on all things sports and pop culture, and is known for its raw and humorous content. Although the @unewhavenbarstool account is not yet affiliated with the official Barstool platform, the spokesperson said it is one of the team’s main goals, and they are taking the necessary steps to achieve this.

The account strives to live up to Barstool-standard content, as the @unewhavenbarstool spokesperson summed up the content as “funny,” “captivating” and relatable.

“Barstool is trying to get as many people reacting to a post as possible,” said the account holder. “Whether it eyes, likes, shares, saves, you name it, the way they do it is by posting eye-catching content. We want to do the same.”

A lot of the content from this account comes directly from the students, which is what makes it so relatable; the ideal submissions document what really happens in the Charger Nation, whether it be students being fully exposed to the elements like the flooding of the Bixler/Gerber Quad or what goes on with students behind closed dorm doors.

Some students feel the account is living up to their expectations. Sophomore criminal justice major Orietta Lobo expressed her enjoyment with the account by saying “I think it’s hilarious to see the dumb things that UNH students do.”

For university alumni Elizabeth Brissette, a psychology major who graduated in 2019, @unewhavenbarstool maintains a connection to her alma mater.

“It allows me to continue interacting with UNH students and keep up with student activities that you don’t typically see on the UNH associated social media platforms,” said Brissette.

If students have photos or videos that they think are @unewhavenbarstool worthy, direct message the account for submissions; they are always looking for content.