Top 189 types of Instagram posts using the #UofT hashtag

Just kidding. I mean top ten. Can you imagine 189???

Happy birthday week to UofT! 189 is a ripe old age and our academic institution has seen lots of growth and development over the duration of its existence. Danielle’s recent posts on major historical moments at UofT give a great outline of what we’ve been through to arrive at this point. The present-day lifestyle of a UofT student is rather different than what it used to be, on account of there being significantly more glass buildings, less trees, a lot more online presence, and a lot more hashtags.

In celebration of our university’s 189th birthday, I took the liberty of perusing through the ever-so-reliable information forum popular amongst us millennials (Instagram) to bring you the top ten types of Insta posts that use the #UofT hashtag, to see whether this is indicative of a current student’s UofT experience. One takeaway from this week’s blog: UofT students are AMAZING photographers. 

1. Food The Toronto food scene is excellent and UofT students are active members of the foodie community, trying out restaurants in the area and marking our territory with the #UofT hashtag. We also cannot resist the inevitable capture of a particularly cool food truck or a skillfully topped street meat hotdog.

  2. Coffee UofT loves instagramming the heavenly elixir and harbinger of vitality that is coffee — and for good reason. The true hero of our school, coffee is a YUGE (*Bernie Sanders voice*) part of our daily functioning. (Also shout-out to those who can survive on tea or no source of liquid energy at all - please share your secret). Common themes include: latte art, bemoaning over yet another failed attempt at Timmie’s Roll Up The Rim, and the ubiquitous Starbucks logo.   3. Study WELL DUH. Nothing says studying like snapping a shot of your meticulously laid out desk, complete with open Macbook, stack of course texts, and maybe even a cup of coffee (cross-reference to the above paragraph). A task that haunts and unites us all, we make working hard and studying look good.

  4. Campus scenery I’d just like to pull a Kanye and say that UofT has one of the most photogenic campuses of all time… oF ALL TIME. The #UofT feed is filled with every possible angle, colour palette, and bird's eye view of our gorgeous university. I had the hardest time trying to choose which photos to include because all of them were so pretty!!! Walking through campus in every season will never cease to amaze me, even after 4 years of attendance.

  5. Architecture The beauty of going to such an old school is seeing the juxtaposition of old fortresses from the 1800s and newer streamlined developments. Thanks to Instagram, we now get open access to different little details of UofT buildings captured on our students’ accounts that we may not have noticed before: a modern ode to all those who designed and built the spaces we occupy.   6. UofT spirit UofT-sweater wearing selfies, the subtle UofT water bottle on a desk, or banner-wielding spectators at Homecoming -- UofT paraphernalia is abound on Instagram.   7. Student groups and clubs Our large university plays host to a multitude of different groups and clubs, who now use Instagram as a way of showcasing their events and initiatives.

  8. Downtime The #UofT feed also depicts what UofT students do on their own time. Personally my favourite activity of choice is sinking into bed and mouthing the words to the Friends theme song as I shamelessly Netflix. Some posts I’ve seen: working out, pub nights, quiet reading in the quad.   9. Student accomplishments (selfies, research posters, iron ring) I am a YUGE proponent of the selfie and thus choose to include it under the category of Student Accomplishments. Celebrate your face! It makes me smile seeing students post Insta selfies with the #UofT hashtag — it really shows how much the school experience means to them. But also other types of Instagrammed accomplishments include getting accepted for a Summer Abroad course, presenting research posters at conferences, and receiving iron rings. -sheds tear- We are so great, guys.   10. Convocation And the most official accomplishment as a UofT student: graduation, i.e. a formal way of saying "Congratulations, you’ve survived! "Instagram plays host to our students’ formal grad photos, family pics on front campus, and that shot of Con Hall that almost makes me not regret having every first-year class within the auditorium. Convocation is a milestone worth sharing online and takes up a significant portion of the #UofT feed.

What do you think of this suspiciously Buzzfeed-like list? Are these posts accurate depictions of your Life at UofT? Be sure to add your own photos to the #UofT and #lifeatuoft hashtags and shout us out on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.