W-WOW Warwick Person of the Year 2025: The architects of Warwick Instagram culture

This year, choosing the Will’s Word on Warwick Warwick Person of the Year has been no easy feat. However, in looking towards TIME Magazine’s similarly prestigious title, which they awarded to the ‘Architects of Artificial Intelligence’, I was given inspiration.

As is customary for such an honour, the Person of the Year does not necessarily have to be an individual; sometimes it can be an idea. In this spirit, I felt I had no choice but to award it to the admins behind Warwick’s many ridiculous Instagram accounts this year.

2025 really has been a golden age for Warwick’s Instagram scene. For better or worse, a new account seems to pop up on our recommended following every day, providing either shock, laughter, or dismay at the current state of Warwick.

The Warwick Tea admins are, of course, the most notable winners. With their culturally significant BNOC competition, ridiculous merch shop, and extended, regular lore drops

Almost in parallel with AI, Warwick’s Instagram accounts have raced towards technological singularity at an alarming pace. The Warwick Tea broke records with its extraordinary output of 5,124 individual confessions, meme page Rootes Debauchery came out of nowhere to hit almost 5,000 followers, and we now even have three separate accounts revolving around the White Koan sculpture next to Senate House.

The Warwick Tea admins are, of course, the most notable winners. With their culturally significant BNOC competition, ridiculous merch shop, and extended, regular lore drops providing constant talking points at the university.

However, this result was far from unchallenged, and a number of key movers and shakers in the Warwick community undoubtedly deserve their flowers.

Copper Rooms legend Harry Williams warrants a major shoutout after attending POP! 107 times across his Warwick career. Come rain, shine, or even meningitis, he made sure never to miss a single one. On top of this, he organised a very successful club night cleverly dubbed BANG!, which saw dozens of sports clubs unite under the guidance of Disco Dave for clubbing, circle, and a good time all-round.

I simply must shine a light on the Cryfield squatter, who was in serious contention for his ability to stay in Cryfield Standard for as long as he did

The Westwood Moleman has also had an extraordinary year, coming from relative obscurity in 2024, this terrifying monster of the night’s legend has spread beyond Westwood, reportedly reaching as far as southern Whitnash. Now a bona fide Warwick cryptid, be sure to pass on my thanks to it if you’re ever unlucky enough to be in Westwood. At this point, it would be remiss of me not to mention other up-and-coming Warwick urban legends such as the Canley Creeper, the Spirit of Sonic, the Gimp of Claycroft, and the WMG Rabbit, all of whom had big years in their own right!

Kiam Films also had a huge 2025. Winning The Warwick Tea’s Big Name On Campus Competition with ease, this endearing international student became the most famous man at Warwick in the space of just a couple of terms. Consistently achieving high viewership with his humorous reels, he even returned for a ‘Meet the BNOC’ event last term. A truly amazing achievement!

I also considered the freshers who were abandoned in Central Coventry, though perhaps that was just me wishfully thinking of a way to mitigate the damage of their situation. Additionally, I simply must shine a light on the Cryfield squatter, who was in serious contention for his ability to stay in Cryfield Standard for as long as he did.

The University Challenge team were in contention, after they almost avenged Warwick’s 50% Cambridge-reject demographic in the show’s grand final; unfortunately, however, they were robbed by an early gong

Former WUAXC Social Secretary Max Winfield came close after becoming the only person to complete WUAXC’s infamous PubJog XL, running from Leamington to campus to Kasbah, covering half a marathon and 16 pints on the way. Completed in the Summer term, this extraordinary physical and mental achievement has yet to be replicated, and, frankly, I’m not surprised.

Ed Swann and the Warwick Left also warrant praise for successfully organising – an accomplishment you wouldn’t have thought was that challenging until you looked at Your Party.

The recently ‘liberated’ bear featured on our new logo warrants consideration for its lack of impact, since, shockingly, no one actually cared when the university ‘unshackled’ an obviously not real bear.

The University Challenge team were in contention, after they almost avenged Warwick’s 50% Cambridge-reject demographic in the show’s grand final; unfortunately, however, they were robbed by an early gong. Luckily, we’ve moved on.

Rootes Grocery Store deserves note after falling victim to arguably the most high-profile assassination of 2025 when the university destroyed it and replaced it with a Co-Op

RON also had a major election year. Not only did he prove his unremitting thirst for power by running in every single election across the university, ultimately breaking voter turnout records in the SU Sports VP elections.

Rootes Grocery Store deserves note after falling victim to arguably the most high-profile assassination of 2025 when the university destroyed it and replaced it with a Co-Op in a clear statement against something, probably.

Unfortunately, all of these candidates ultimately fell short in lieu of the many architects of Warwick’s Instagram scene. 2025 witnessed an unprecedented number of accounts rise to prominence, while existing pages have expanded to even greater heights.

The start of the year brought us ridiculous liquid accounts like The Warwick Coffee, The Tea’s somewhat gratingly positive counterpart, and The Warwick Water, a purposefully neutral middle ground, which even hosted a Least Influential Person On Campus Competition back in March. The most ridiculous of all the ‘liquid accounts’ was undoubtedly The Warwick Gravy. Dubbing itself the “home of love” at Warwick, it delivered “Tinder Tuesday every day” (for about two weeks) and released “relatable” gravy memes for some reason.

The Warwick Koan stayed similarly consistent with its part-thirst trap part-appreciation posts featuring the beloved White Koan by Senate House

Early 2025 also brought us Warwick Bus Crush, which optimistically aimed to bring lovers together in the worst environment imaginable, the U1 bus route. I also couldn’t go without mentioning a personal favourite of mine, the perfectly named Warwick Geese Premium, which regularly delivered high-quality footage of geese on campus throughout 2025.

The Warwick Koan stayed similarly consistent with its part-thirst trap part-appreciation posts featuring the beloved White Koan by Senate House. They took the simple, but beautiful idea of taking photos of the Koan in all its majesty, allowing others to reflect their own meaning onto it. This account was followed by pages such as Man In Koan, which continues to spread the truth about there being a man trapped in the Koan, who is in some way responsible for making it turn every now and again. There’s also the I Love Koan account, which vehemently campaigns for the University to get the Koan spinning again. The stillness of which has worried the family of the man trapped in the Koan and Warwick students alike.

Meme pages exploded in popularity this year, following a difficult drought of talent last year after the graduation of The Wick Memes. Rootes Debauchery is undoubtedly the flagship Warwick meme account; their consistent output, quality memes, and commitment to Warwick culture are highly laudable. One can only hope that they’re able to reach the heights of The Wick Memes before they graduate. The meme page boom this year has been impossible to deny, accounts like Leam Hate Soc, Warwick Chopped Chin, BNOC TV, and others that are so brain-rotted I couldn’t hope to understand them at the grand old age of final year.

Warwick Sigma Society saw a seemingly inexplicable rise to fame this year, reaching almost 4,000 followers, filming innovative, if baffling, live content

2025 saw the much-awaited return of Warwick Shopping Trolleys, a fantastic resource for looking at trolleys in funny places, The Leamington Post, Warwick’s answer to The Onion, and something called Warwick Bradford Society, which I think might be a meme page. More recently, we witnessed the advent of the genuinely harrowing Warwick Smut page, which somehow releases daily smut stories set in and around Warwick.

Warwick Sigma Society saw a seemingly inexplicable rise to fame this year, reaching almost 4,000 followers, filming innovative, if baffling, live content, and hosting a landmark in-person Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest on the piazza.

The Warwick Tea succeeded the remarkable Warwick Grapevine in October 2024 as the university’s primary gossip account and has boomed to almost 8000 followers, becoming a regular fixture of daily life at Warwick.

I’ve seen Warwick Tea submissions incorporated into circling as a punishment and featured in society ball awards based on who has submitted the most

Their BNOC Competition was great fun (and in no way inflated the already healthy egos of anyone involved), their Etsy shop is particularly comical, and their successful handover of admins seems genuinely impressive and remarkably smooth considering it’s a university gossip account. There’s no doubt their satirical Warwick news bulletins are always a good laugh, and the page even united with a Coventry gossip account during last year’s Varsity for a joint post celebrating the two universities’ rivalry.

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that The Tea comes up in conversation more often than any other aspect of Warwick life, which is impressive given it mainly consists of people sharing thoughts they absolutely did not need to. I’ve seen Warwick Tea submissions incorporated into circling as a punishment and featured in society ball awards based on who has submitted the most.

The Warwick Tea has continued and outdone the work of many previous gossip accounts at Warwick. Reflecting the student mood, in all its frustration, humour, and absurdity, and regularly uniting our large student body through a shared community and/or morbid curiosity. Simply put, if you’re at Warwick and you don’t know about The Warwick Tea, where have you been living, and is it Whitnash?