Student Spotlight: Iowa City Twitter Celeb Has Almost 600 Followers

Austin Adrian, pictured above, is the latest Twitter user to earn the prestigious title of “Iowa City Twitter Celeb” after reaching almost 600 followers.

“It’s surreal,” Adrian says. “I never could have imagined I’d attract such a following for my memes, but it goes to show there’s an audience for everyone, so long as they live and work around the downtown Iowa City area and nowhere beyond that.”

Adrian first gained notoriety when he tweeted a video of a fight breaking out at the Riverside Dairy Queen. The post was quote tweeted by popular Twitter user, Ice-T, who remarked “O Shit!”

“That was definitely the turning point for my rise to stardom,” Adrian says. “To think that an actual blue checkmark saw my post is the honor of a lifetime. I mean here I am with a couple followers from high school suddenly being catapulted into the limelight. I was finally getting the love I’ve always craved.”

Adrian has since enjoyed great success as well as some backlash for skewering local Iowa politicians.

“I think the highlight was when I pretended to be Covid-Kimmy on Twitter for a week,” Adrian says, referring to when he changed his Twitter handle and profile picture to resemble Governor Reynolds, a stunt for which he was briefly banned. “I’m just glad I was able to start a conversation.”

Adrian says his life has changed drastically ever since joining the elite group of Iowa City Twitter Celebs.

“I walk down the street, and people call out my Twitter handle,” Adrian says. “One of my tweets was included in a Buzzfeed article. I’ve even seen some pop up on my mom’s Facebook. I project that by the end of the year I’ll be well on my way to almost 700 followers.”

Many have wondered if Adrian plans to cash in on his Twitter fame, but he says he wants to keep things real.

“I’m not here to schill for Audible to all my fans,” Adrian says referring to his almost 600 follower fanbase. “People followed me for me, not for some brand. But I do wanna plug my amateur standup show on the 12th. It’s got a $15 cover charge, but it’s BOGO on drinks after 11.”

When asked how his friends feel about knowing somebody so famous, Adrian responded that he really only has like 1 or 2 irl friends, but that he’s in a group chat with the other Iowa City Twitter Celebs, and they say they’re all going to Studio together when the pandemic stuff is over.