Chicken empanada. Tuna poke bowl. Honey garlic chicken with kale and sweet potato salad.
These are some of the foods senior Sarah Muzzy eats in her “Duke Meals of the Day” videos, a series she does on TikTok for her nearly 30,000 followers. There, she posts videos of meals she eats at Duke Dining locations to her audience, hoping to reach prospective and curious students wondering what the life of a real Duke student looks like.
In videos as short as 13 seconds, Muzzy shares her life as a Blue Devil.
The content made by Muzzy and other Duke influencers ranges from day-in-the-life and get-ready-with-me videos to campus food ratings and college application advice to prospective students.
But, how did these students crack the code and reach internet stardom? The key may be the factor they all have in common: attending Duke.
The Duke factor
“There are a lot of people that are interested in Duke and what life is like at Duke,” Muzzy said.
Sophomore Shira Shasha, who has grown to a fanbase of nearly 5,800 followers on TikTok, originally posted a Duke-related video — a day in my life — because her friend had posted one. Her video received 19,000 views.
“My friends were in the comments saying, ‘Okay influencer,’... and then I was just like, ‘well, why not continue it?’” Shasha said.
After students like Shasha and Muzzy initially gained a following, they wanted to use their platform for a larger purpose: to show Duke through the lens of a student experiencing it for the first time.
“Even if you just look on [Duke’s] website or [look] at resources that we’re given as students, it's not the same as having an actual kid who goes there who shows you their own specific spots,” said first-year Claire Ziemba, who currently has around 1,500 followers on TikTok.
To Muzzy, this includes seeing how students utilize campus resources.
“You're able to see the different opportunities that the University has to offer,” she said.
Muzzy’s videos also highlight the price tag of campus dining locations, with one video showing off a $20 build-your-own bowl from Sazón.
Through Muzzy’s TikToks, high school juniors and seniors can put themselves in her shoes — imagining what it might be like to share poke bowls with friends at WU.
Some creators even said that before arriving at Duke, they had used TikTok as a resource to plan their daily lives.
Senior Catherine Esrey, who has amassed over 20,000 followers on TikTok, said she has always looked up restaurants on Instagram, before going there, to assess the aesthetic.
“If I was trying to get excited about something, just being able to see it was a big part,” Esrey said.
So when Esrey began applying to colleges during the COVID-19 pandemic and visiting universities in person wasn’t an option, she turned to TikTok.
“I got to see, ‘oh, this could be my day,’” Esrey said. “It helped to be able to see what the campus looks like, what [the creator] might be wearing to class.”
Since then, Esrey has become an influencer herself, receiving comments from prospective students — and even parents — who watch her videos depicting Duke’s student life.
Some student creators also make content about the college application process. Shasha and Ziemba say that, for them, this type of content tends to garner among the most engagement.
In Ziemba’s most viewed video, with around 60,000 views, she reads the personal statement she submitted in her successful application to Duke.
Esrey shared that some students on campus have told her that her videos inspired them to attend Duke.
“I can’t believe that a little video that I probably didn’t even think about showed someone a different path that they could take in their life,” she said.
Some creators described how prospective students have reached out to them to request help with their applications or ask questions about Duke.
For example, Ziemba once received an email from a TikTok viewer asking her to review their application.
“I'm not a college counselor or anything, but of course, I'd love to help out,” Ziemba said.
Yet, Shasha shared that she personally avoids emphasizing statistics and test scores, because she does not believe these numbers will necessarily “prohibit [an applicant] from getting in.” She prefers to highlight the holistic nature of the admissions process.
Similarly, Muzzy expressed hesitation in providing specific advice on prospective students’ applications.
“I don't want to be the one to tell them why they want to come to Duke. I don't think that's my place,” Muzzy said, regarding prospective students who asked for help on their personal statement.
Overall, student creators like Shasha suspect that college content tends to go viral on TikTok because of the opaque nature of the college application process. Prospective students who feel unsure of their chances of getting into a university like Duke may turn to TikTok creators for clarity or insight in a very uncertain process.
“The process itself is so unknown … but it's also known at the same time … you just can't pinpoint it,” she said.
While social media influencers exist on various platforms, TikTok has become the medium of choice for these student creators. To them, TikTok is a more informal space where they can share their life in a casual setting.
“On TikTok, I feel like I can post whatever and not worry, ‘Oh my gosh, is the kid from seventh grade gonna think that I'm trying too hard or being weird?’” Esrey said.
Yet, TikTok has its drawbacks, especially when student creators want to explore a topic more in-depth and require a longer video.
“If a video requires maybe two, three minutes to explain it, people aren't gonna stay that whole time,” Ziemba said.
The Blue Devil influencer community
The rising number of Duke student TikTok influencers on campus has led to a mini-network of creators seeking to collaborate and inspire one another.
This new hub, dubbed the Creator Lab, helps train students “seeking to become advanced social media content creators.” Muzzy and Shasha both joined the Creator Lab to find community among students who are also seeking to build a large online following.
“I lean on them. They lean on me,” Shasha said.
Multiple student creators also took inspiration from Natalia Hauser, Trinity ‘24. Hauser, more famously known as @natisstyle, currently has around 266,000 followers on TikTok and is, according to her bio, a “retired Duke student.”
“She was a really big role model to me when I was starting out,” Muzzy said. “I really admired her and her confidence, and she honestly gave me the confidence to continue posting.”
Going forward, Muzzy and Esrey were unsure about what their TikTok content will look like after they graduate this spring, but they hope to continue posting nonetheless.
Though as a first-year, Ziemba hopes to continue making content throughout her next few years at Duke.
“I love Duke … so continuing to show people what this college and what this University is like, and maybe influencing people to come here, I think is the greatest aspect,” Ziemba said.
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Dylan Halper is a Trinity first-year and a staff reporter for the news department.