As campus gets colder and the workload becomes heavier, many students pause in the haste of everyday routine and turn to social media for a small laugh. Instagram meme accounts such as @andoveraffirmations and @pachimpanzee provide an opportunity for student commentary. Passed down amongst students from year to year, their ownership has remained secretive during their tenure.
“i am andover affirmations,” Madison Yuan ’23 posted on May 19, 2023, as a way to reveal the identity of the account — a tradition started by the account’s founders, Lesley Tann ’22, Alexandra Koch-Liu ’22, and Melissa Damasceno ’22. As the owner of the account, Yuan described how she used current events and buzz around campus to generate her posts as a source for light-hearted fun.
“I believe [Andover Affirmations] is beneficial because it brings the community together and is a place to see current news, get a laugh, see a meme about the school… Running the account didn’t entail much. I would aim to post once every other day, but sometimes, if I was busy, I’d forget. I got inspiration for the posts mainly from current events, if we just had [All-School Meeting] (ASM), if there was a joke or something there that people laughed at or related to,” said Yuan.
Andover Affirmations’ up-to-date and relevant posts offer a relatability which many students look forward to. As a new student, Chloe Park ’27 shared how the account creates a larger sense of community and curbs loneliness.
“I honestly think [Andover Affirmations] is a funny account, and a lot of students at PA can find it relatable. For example, one of [the posts] was related to the school plague… It’s just really funny [because] you realize that it’s not just you in the PA community that’s able to identify these small things, it’s everyone, so you don’t feel alone. You feel like the whole community is going through the same thing,” said Park.
Like all meme accounts, Andover Affirmations grapples with balancing respect for the community, relevance to current events, and comedy for its audience. Tisha Nhaúle ’25, expressed how Andover Affirmations successfully balances the clashing factors. Nhaúle also spoke on how the accounts rarely make people feel uncomfortable and are often light-hearted and funny.
“With memes, there’s that balance that needs to be hit between respecting people’s privacy, respecting sensitivity of things, and also having a laugh at things… Andover Affirmations as an account is really good at striking that balance between making sure people’s privacy is respected and making sure that people’s dignities are upheld but also making light of situations that happened around campus,” said Nhaúle.
Nhaúle continued by discussing the circulating rumors which speculate Andover Affirmations’ admin. The passing down of the account admin from student to student adds to the elusiveness of the page and also determines the upcoming years’ content.
“I have no idea [who runs the account], I just keep hearing things… Whoever it is, great job, they can keep a secret better than I can… [and] whoever chose the person last year did a good job of passing it down,” said Nhaúle.
Unlike Andover Affirmations, a public account that allows anyone to follow, PA Chimpanzee is a private meme account at Andover. With fewer followers, PA Chimpanzee curates more niche posts. Emiliano Bobadilla ’26 shared how he thought PA Chimpanzee’s posts were less relatable in regards to campus life.
“PA Chimpanzee is so outdated, their memes need to be updated. They are definitely not doing it like Andover Affirmations. They try to be funny, but they are not,” said Bobadilla.
