With an undergraduate population of more than 25,000 students, you can bet there are some prolific social media influencers roaming our historic campus living their best student lives. For some, social media relates to their major or to a sport or activity they're involved in as a Gamecock. For others, it's just a passion that's taking off. Regardless of how they got their start, these South Carolina students are making waves with visually engaging content, impressive Instagram follower counts and their own unique flair.
Emma Kate Connelly
What do you get when you cross a Carolina Coquette dancer with a beauty queen and a Pillars stan? Well, you get Emma Kate Connelly. Connelly is a broadcast journalism major from Gaffney, S.C., who shares a mix of concert and pageant content alongside snapshots of her USC experience. If you follow Connelly, ask her about her involvement in SGTV, Cocky's Reading Express or her sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta.
Anass Essayi
Between being an Olympian, a 3x SEC champion and a Gamecock student-athlete, it’s hard to understand how Anass Essayi has had time to amass such a loyal and engaged following, but he has. Essayi is a retailing major from Rabat, Morocco. Follow him for a mix of training and competition content, travel and lifestyle snapshots and, of course, a firsthand account of what it's like to be a student athlete in the SEC.
Sydney Herz
Meet Sydney Herz, a sport management major from Severna Park, Maryland. With more than 550,000 followers on Instagram, Herz’s feed is filled with engaging photos highlighting her college experience, including the time she spends as the student manager for Gamecock Baseball. But it also touches on topics like mental health and healing from deep loss. Her goal is to spread postivitiy and be as authentic as possible. So far, she's excelling at both.
Jordyn Lewis
Meet Jordyn Lewis, aka Miss Gamecock 2023. Lewis competed at the Miss South Carolina pageant this summer and took home the Rookie Talent and the Overall Miss Talent award for her contemporary dance. Along with wearing the crown, she is a senior retailing major and is active in her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sosority, Incorporated. She also co-hosts the Sorry Not Sorry podcast with her best friend where they talk all things college, friendships, fashion and more.
Parker Reese
Say hello to Dallas, Texas, native and broadcast journalism major Parker Reese. Reese's feed serves inspo for everything from fashion to travel, with plenty of Greek life love from her Alpha Delta Pi sorority sisters. Her aesthetic is bright and colorful but there’s plenty of Garnet and Black mixed in courtesy of her position as a Gamecock cheerleader. While we all like to think of ourselves as Gamecock cheerleaders, Reese is the real deal. Follow her to see what it's like from her firsthand experience.
This list is far from complete. Who did we miss? Let us know — naturally — on social, @uofsc.