tips on starting a college/nyc satirical news social media account(s)?

hi! I’m a rising sophomore, and i wanted to hear feedback on a non-school-affiliated social media account pitch.

for context, i’m a polisci/film major, and i really have a strong interest in satirical news, particularly through video. i tried starting a school broadcast in high school, but that got overhauled by a teacher and just became normal school announcements. we also had an onion for my high school, but it was mostly just one joke headline posts and didn’t really go anywhere.

what i want to make are short-form videos (1-3 mins long) detailing school news and events in a similar fashion to SNL’s weekend update. i’d also want to do smaller segements (30-1) of other news in the city. for context, i go to fordham, so the news would be fordham related before expanding to other nyc colleges, like nyu, columbia, parsons, etc. the best example i could think of is Good Morning UCLA. he details college life while not technically affliated with the school, and i want to be that kind of correspondent.

i’d start this off solo, but i hopefully would like to expand to others.

i want to make this for 2 reasons: one, because no one really makes commentary about college in new york. the biggest instagram accounts for college in new york are just meme pages with general college life, and i want to try something unconventional for college journalism, because going to school in nyc is already an unconventional college experience for a lot of students. that’s why i’m also looking outward to other nyc schools, because it seems that they don’t really offer that kind of media. from what i’ve found, most schools have a newspaper, a radio station, and some magazines, but never anything relating to fun, student broadcast journalism.

the second reason is because of the nature of the media. this is obviously very akin to late night shows, and a lot of people i know either want to work in late night/interned for a late night show. but we don’t have many direct options for that line of work. we do have comedy clubs (i can’t say i know a lot about the rose hill one) but it covers basics: sketch, standup, improv. the newspaper doesn’t have a humor section aside from opinion pieces (occasionally) and comics. we have a screenwriting club but it’s for any form of writing. my hope is that since it’s not an academic club, people can exercise a little bit more of creative freedom if they want to write, edit, interview, shoot, whatever.

i have some branding ideas: a retro 70s/80s NYC inspired typeface, i want it to feel vintage in the very Gen Z way. the main color would be red, since it’s fordham first and foremost, and I would wear very professional clothing. so far i settled on a fordham red turtleneck, skirt and loafers (like NBC pages)

i initally worried a bit because i’m a sophomore, and most people start ambitious projects like this freshman year or high school (at least in my experience). so any feedback on this concept would be greatly appreciated!! thank you for reading this far lmao

tldr; i want to make a funny college/nyc news broadcast account and i'm worried about how it sells

Comments

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toolnexa•about 2 months ago•1

way more interesting than another college meme account tbh.

nobsmentor•about 2 months ago•1

I actually think the fact you’re starting this as a sophomore helps more than hurts.

You still have enough time to let the format evolve naturally instead of trying to make it instantly “serious.”

And honestly the strongest part of your idea is not the satire itself. It’s the combination of:

NYC college culture
student journalism
internet-native humor
broadcast-style packaging

That’s a pretty underexplored lane.

But I think the biggest thing is: don’t make it feel like “students trying to imitate SNL.”

That can get painfully unfunny very fast.

What would make this work is if it feels:

hyper-specific
self-aware
culturally accurate
very NYC student coded
slightly chaotic
observant

The best satire usually comes from: recognizable truths people already feel.

Like:

weird Fordham social dynamics
NYC commuter/student survival
internship culture
rich kid vs broke student contrast
dating/social scenes
MTA suffering
fake intellectualism
campus politics
“networking” culture
media/film student stereotypes

That’s where the real shareability is.

Also your visual branding idea is strong. The retro local-news aesthetic mixed with Gen Z pacing could actually stand out a lot compared to generic campus meme pages.

One thing I’d suggest: start SHORTER than you think.

1–3 mins is harder than it sounds. Especially solo.

You’ll probably grow faster initially with:

20–45 second desk bits
fake breaking news
quick correspondent segments
man-on-the-street clips
recurring characters/jokes

Then expand once people understand the tone.

And honestly don’t overthink “how it sells” yet. The bigger risk isn’t monetization. It’s consistency and format fatigue.

If the tone becomes recognizable enough, people will start treating it like: “the NYC college news account” which is where the real momentum starts.

HitxLerr•about 2 months ago•1

the absolute biggest hurdle for local campus satire is getting that first baseline audience to share your stuff. dont just rely on hashtags or the algorithm to pick it up early on. print out actual flyers with a chaotic headline and a qr code to your page and slap them up near the student unions or popular off campus coffee spots. once you get a tight group of local students laughing, the digital word of mouth handles the rest pretty fast.

KoolTuo123•about 2 months ago•1

This is a really solid pitch tbh and a sophomore can 100% pull it off. most college accounts that actually break out got started by one person with a clear voice, not a team.

The "correspondent in professional clothes doing satirical news" format is basically the exact playbook NYT cracked on TikTok the last 2 years. their reporters do short pieces in the NYT visual house style and it works because the brand-vs-platform tension is itself the hook. you'd be doing the same thing just with the college twist. i wrote up how they pulled it off here if it's useful: https://www.palimio.com/blog/new-york-times-tiktok-strategy

Honestly the visual brand consistency you described (the red, the retro typeface, the pages-style outfit) is your biggest weapon. most college accounts look interchangeable. Don't drop the bit 3 weeks in when posts don't pop instantly, that's the part everyone gives up on too early.

What's the working name?

mydrop_ai•about 2 months ago•1

Did you try locking the account voice before you post?

I’m the founder of Mydrop AI, the Social Management tool with 12k users, so I see this a lot

Pick one persona & one recurring format, then repeat

Keep visuals consistent: same crop, same type, same punchline rhythm

Batch posts with Content Scheduling to test tone & timing

mydrop_ai•about 2 months ago•1

Pick a clear voice and 2–3 recurring beats so the parody actually lands, focus on sharp local details and short deadpan headlines or 15–30s reels that punch fast
Protect yourself by fictionalizing names and facts and avoiding targeted harassment, engage in replies to build a community, crosspost to TikTok/IG/X and use simple templates plus a posting schedule to keep momentum

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