Concerns have been raised that the anonymous satirical Instagram account @osuthepressure, also known as ‘The Pressure,’ causes more harm than good through its commentary on Associated Students of Oregon State University and campus ongoings.
Many people involved in ASOSU feel The Pressure’s ASOSU satirical content is harmful as it misconstrues facts. As The Pressure is anonymous, there is no accountability over the content they produce and as of April 10 they are now verified on Instagram.
“There’s a sense of truth and belief behind it (for Instagram followers),” said ASOSU President Audrey Schlotter. “Especially when you’re mixing satire, that’s literally bullying and harassment, then with skewed truths of reality that aren’t satire.”
All ASOSU role titles are for identification purposes only and statements made are not representative of ASOSU feelings.
Several sources at ASOSU claim ASOSU Councilor Matteo Paola allegedly runs the account.
Paola denied he runs The Pressure.
“It is nearly impossible to correct the misinformation stated within these posts, especially when the creators are behind the veil of anonymity while simultaneously sitting across from you in a meeting,” Schlotter said.
The Pressure, who considers themself an independent media publication, has increasingly begun to focus their content on ASOSU politics, claiming they “rely on the prophetic premonitions that come with being a modern day Cassandra” for their coverage.
“(Our goal is) to inform, be funny, establish a media conglomerate to influence the masses,” said The Pressure in an email statement. The Pressure said they are avoiding in-person interviews and declined to reveal their identity (or identities), citing a “high likelihood of retaliation.”
“They will go after anyone who criticizes them even in the slightest,” said Nathan Schmidt, chief of staff for ASOSU.
The Pressure’s content has not always been allegedly harmful.
When The Pressure first started, Chandler Donahey, previous ASOSU senator, regularly sent in text for posts, several of which were published. For Donahey, The Pressure was an account to light-heartedly poke fun at campus ongoings.
“I tried to be funny about it,” Donahey said, “because that was the vision that I saw when this thing first popped up.”
Over the last two years, however, Donahey saw The Pressure transform into what he described as “targeted” in their content and harmful in its impact.
“I think that there was genuinely a lot of potential there for it to be something bigger than what it is right now, and to be in a better public eye than what it is right now,” Donahey said.
As the nature of The Pressure’s content has changed, Donahey no longer submits stories.
“It’s been used, really, as a social bullying tool,” said Sophia Nowers, Student Fee Committee Chair. “You say something, you end up on The Pressure. And they’re veiled references to you and it really fuels the drama (in ASOSU).”
The veiled references combined with The Pressure’s anonymity has made it difficult for any action to be taken.
“You know how many times I’ve gone home crying because of something said on The Pressure and nothing could be done with it through Student Conduct, because it was anonymous?” Schlottter said.
On Feb. 28, ASOSU went into a partial shutdown until May 2 due to concerns over a harmful work environment. The shutdown came shortly after then-vice president Zachary Kowash resigned, citing mental health issues.
“The stuff (The Pressure says) has been twisted into things, and it’s not what’s actually happening, or it’s half the information of everything that’s happened,” an anonymous ASOSU source said. The source asked to remain anonymous due to the nature of the situation.
On Nov. 30, 2023, The Pressure uploaded a post about ASOSU voting down Resolution SR-83.01, or “Resolution for a Living Wage for Student Workers”. The post’s image prominently featured women of color, insinuating the women were responsible for the bill’s failure, an anonymous ASOSU source said.
“It was like, ‘senate voted down this,’ and it was a trip to people of color, women. I was just like, ‘That’s crazy,’” the anonymous ASOSU source said. “That’s the narrative you’re trying to spread and you’re using those two people’s pictures.”
The Pressure also has begun to shift away from only satire, delving into straight news coverage.
“It’s tough because they never identify themselves,” Schmidt said. “I don’t really know how you can do investigative journalism if you’re also trying to stay anonymous the whole time. It’s kind of cowardly.”
Coverage of ASOSU ongoings picked up during the height of ASOSU’s election season. On Jan. 12, The Pressure uploaded a post announcing their efforts to produce elections coverage.
“The elections coverage was rather aggressive for them,” Donahey said. “I hadn’t seen anything quite to that magnitude posted up until that point.”
When Lauren Camou, presidential affairs director for ASOSU, ran for president this year, The Pressure uploaded a post about Camou’s apparent stance on the issue of vetoes.
Prior to the uploading of the post, The Pressure reached out to Camou over Instagram, providing Camou an opportunity to explain their beliefs, which Camou took up on, offering to meet with them.
The Pressure did not respond to Camou’s Instagram DM and claimed in their post Camou refused to comment.
The Pressure also uploaded their rankings of the Student Fee Committee candidates, putting Lily Goodyear at 1/10 and Dylan Perfect at 9/10.
“They just say what their view is, and they don’t have to show an opposing side, or they can pull the opposing side out of context,” Nowers said.
On March 6, The Pressure announced they archived all ASOSU elections posts that mentioned candidates “in the spirit of moving on.” According to The Pressure’s story, the posts existed to inform and not for the attacking of candidates.
“It’s a lot easier to say things when people aren’t able to trace them to you,” Donahey said, “especially things that you would have trouble saying to someone’s face.”
While many ASOSU sources expressed frustrations with The Pressure, they recognized the role satirical pages can have.
“I think this kind of dialog is important,” Schmidt said. “You look at satirical comedy that makes political (commentary). You have most famously Jon Stewart on the Today Show. He does a really good job. He’ll criticize, but he does his research. If you want to step into that realm of journalism, you need to have integrity.”
For Schmidt, integrity looks like no longer being anonymous. Schlotter also felt similarly, noting that The Onion has a published editorial board online.
“If you want to solve issues,” Schmidt said, “the way to solve issues is to not just hide behind an anonymous Instagram page and post things without ever doing your due diligence.”
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