By Olivia Perron, Currier Times Staff///

Have you seen the newest “us-ie” of @curryvpsa on Instagram? If you haven’t seen Vice President of Student Affairs, Erik Muurisepp’s running around events looking for his next Instagram post keep your eyes peeled at the next event you attend.

Or maybe you have had the pleasure of seeing Curry’s new President, Jay Gonzalez, working on his selfie game. @currypres has gained 439 followers since President Gonzalez started the account this summer.

@curryvpsa, originally started pre-pandemic, has not been running since 2018. VPSA Muurisepp has dusted off the count and is now up to 318 followers.

Now for President Gonzalez, Instagram has been a learning curve. Students may have seen one of his first official Instagram posts, his daughter saw it as well.

“I’m trying to get better about remembering to take a picture and post when I should, and I’m trying to be better at the technical aspect of posting,” President Gonzalez said. “My older daughter followed me and reached out in horror after seeing one of my early posts with pictures of people’s heads cut off.”

Even with the daunting task of learning new things, President Gonzalez ultimately wants the best way to connect students and the interesting events and engagement on campus.

VPSA Muurisepp shares similar motivations with President Gonzalez in running an Instagram account. He also has hope of changing people’s perspective.

“I think it just helps show I am just a regular person like the rest of us around campus…not some administrator stuck in my office making policy or decisions in a vacuum,” Murrisepp said. “I hope it allows folks to see I am really excited, and honored, to be part of this community and having a great deal of fun along the way! I am really excited to see President Gonzalez using it too.”

Student engagement is important overall. The use of social media platforms to communicate with students is the new way to get the most amount of views. Students are more likely to engage with an Instagram post over an email.

VPSA Muurisepp says he’s always welcome to feedback and learn about new ways to engage, even if that entails different platforms such as X. President Gonzalez is still working on his Instagram skills so it might take a bit longer before we see him trying a new platform. Let’s perfect the photo framing before we start dancing in a TikTok maybe.

One thing is for sure. They both passionately want to grow their Instagram following. So make sure you follow both @currypres and @curryvpsa. Both will surely not disappoint.