Connecting to campus through satire on aggieshuttle Twitter account
Shelby Brown was used to posting satirical content on her Twitter account @aggieshuttle.
So when she jokingly posted that the Aggie Shuttle, Utah State University’s public transportation system, crashed into the tree in front of the Kappa Delta sorority house, she was surprised at the public outrage.
“I don’t know how it made it, but it made it to the Kappa Delta alum Facebook,” Brown said.
Brown even had people messaging her asking if the tree was okay.
“It was kind of a mess, but it was funny,” Brown said.
Satire, Twitter trends, lighthearted comedy, shared trauma — all can be found on Brown’s @aggieshuttle Twitter account. The account focuses on notifying the student body if it’s “safe to ride the Aggie Shuttle today,” according to the account’s name.
The @aggieshuttle Twitter account began as a joke between Brown and one of her roommates. Brown spends a lot of time on Twitter because she finds the content funny, so when her roommate brought up the idea of creating an account based on the Aggie Shuttle, she accepted the challenge.
Brown strives to connect the USU community on Twitter with the account through common experiences like riding the Aggie Shuttle.
“Just to give people a laugh and just kind of connect students with our common trauma of the Aggie Shuttle,” Brown said of her goals for the account.
That aside, Brown didn’t have lofty expectations for the account to begin with.
“I wasn’t really expecting anything of it other than just kind of an inside joke between me and some close friends,” Brown said.
However, the account soon caught on and Brown grew a following. The account now has 169 followers and is known for its satirical content.
“I find it lighthearted and humorous,” Chandler Russel, one of the account’s followers, said.
Russel, a bus driver himself, applauds the account for calling out unsafe behaviors while keeping lighthearted.
“I have personally found this account a lighthearted way to look at it, but there may be a bigger, more real issue to look at since someone finds creating an account of this nature necessary,” Russel said.
Russel has noticed several unsafe behaviors on the Aggie Shuttle that have gone unreported, which may hint at why the account was created in the first place.
“I have noticed that usually these types of accounts don’t really pop up unless they’re at least loosely based in reality and actual experiences,” Russel said.
Brown began the account anonymously but has since revealed her identity, in part because she has begun selling merchandise for the account in the form of stickers and t-shirts.
“I’m a senior, and so I was like, I don’t have a lot of time left with this,” Brown said of her decision to reveal her identity. “And then I just couldn’t figure out how to do the merch anonymously.”
Other than posts such as the tree incident, the account parodies Twitter trends, posts about common experiences on the Aggie Shuttle or responses to campus events.
“Most of the time I’ll just see like trends on Twitter and just kind of like relate that back to the Aggie Shuttle,” Brown said.
For example, many of the posts relate back to the notorious country music drivers tend to blast from the Aggie Shuttle’s speakers.
Lately, the account has extended its approach by talking about USU in general in some instances rather than simply the Aggie Shuttle.
According to Brown, the accounts evolution occurred gradually.
“This could be like more of a widespread thing just to just kind of connect USU students on Twitter,” Brown said.
With Brown being a senior, the future of the account is a mystery. She hasn’t decided if she wants to put the account to rest or pass it on to another student to run. Brown says she is open to ideas.
All in all, despite the accounts humorous nature in talking about the Aggie Shuttle, Brown appreciates the resource.
“I love making fun of the Aggie Shuttle,” Brown said. “It is honestly such a privilege that we have such a good public transportation system here in Cache Valley.”