Amherst College Fizz Isn’t What You Think

Six weeks into the Fall 2026 semester, the #1 Amherst College Fizz post has been upvoted by at least 42% of the student body.

Fizz, an anonymous social platform with verified servers at countless colleges, is commonly associated with the propagation of gossip and hate. I, too, prior to downloading and engaging with Fizz, believed this myth. However, my investigation of the top 20 posts this semester so far proves this narrative false. I guided my work with three questions: What is popular on Fizz? Do these popular topics align with the platform’s reputation? And what does it tell us about Amherst?

The most popular topic was the new Ford Student Center, which was featured in 10 of the top 20 posts. These posts were extremely diverse, covering everything from the new Wok Station at Betty’s Kitchen to a T-shirt worn by a construction worker (“I work harder than an ugly stripper,” the T-shirt read). A whopping three of the top 20 posts were about The Steps, the central staircase of the Ford Student Center. All three poked fun at the obviousness of the location’s name, and all three made it into the top five most-upvoted posts of the semester. Another three posts critiqued Ford, complaining about everything from the decorations (specifically the tragic lack of plants and murals) to meal options. 

Annie Zimmerman ’30 was unsurprised to hear that half of the top 20 posts were about Ford. “That adds up,” she said. Despite not using Fizz, she correctly guessed that these posts were “complaining.”

The dominance of the Ford Student Center suggests the Amherst Fizz forum values community — our collective ability to experience, poke fun at, and complain about the same topics together. We’ve all rolled our eyes at the sign for The Steps and experienced the power outage at Betty’s; we all take to Fizz to laugh about them. 

No other subject this semester came close to Ford’s prominence. Four topics tied for second place, each with two posts in the top 20. Among them were two major campus events: The arrest of former Amherst student Jovante Gonzalez and the potentially explosive package discovered in the Science Center last Tuesday. After all, there is no better way to cope with horror than humor.

Another topic with two posts in the top 20 was regarding the hateful, anti-immigrant post made earlier in the semester, which prompted an email to all Amherst students from Dean of Students Angie Tissi-Gassoway. For many Amherst students who do not use Fizz, emails about hateful posts are often the cornerstone of their understanding of the app. Zimmerman believed that many posts were about “sex, drugs, [and] racism,” citing Tissi-Gassoway’s email as one of the main reasons she assumed so. 

Fascinatingly, the two popular posts were, in fact, shaming the person who made the xenophobic statement. Both posts received upvotes from more than 40% of the Amherst College student body. That is to say, while Fizz does have its fair share of hateful posts, the most popular posts condemn this hatred. It seems like the Amherst Fizz community does not reward bullies; it rewards those who bully the bullies. 

The final topic, which had two posts in this semester’s top 20, was nature. One of these posts was simply photos of an especially gorgeous sunset, posted for those who hadn’t witnessed it or taken pictures of it. 

It appears, then, that it is far-fetched to call Amherst Fizz a discriminatory or R-rated place when the top 20 most popular posts this semester show that users prefer wholesome, humorous, and informative posts. Amherst Fizz may indeed be better described as a land of sunset photos, light critiques of school admin, and minimal tolerance for bullies.

Avery Evans ’30, who checks Fizz “at least once a day,” describes it as a place to learn “up-to-date stuff about campus.” While the information found on Fizz includes party details, it often covers far more serious information and issues students may otherwise miss. One of the top 20 posts highlighted braille signs in the Ford Student Center that are entirely unusable for blind students and guests because they use printed rather than raised lettering. Another top 20 post discussed the removal of the option to choose four snacks at Mammoth On the Go, which some students argued is especially harmful to low-income students. 

In the words of Zimmerman, “in a way [Fizz] is its own form of journalism.”

Tissi-Gassoway warned the Amherst student body in the aforementioned email that “what happens on Fizz is yours to own.” If this semester’s current 20 most-upvoted posts are indeed an accurate and meaningful reflection of our school’s Fizz community, then Amherst Fizz is something I proudly own.