College drinking culture: a pre-game with no winners

In November 2017, a 19-year-old university student from England tweeted the following: 

"Pre-drinks in winter is just about drinking enough so you're too smashed you won't feel the cold when you get outside." 

In just a few hours, the tweet went what we would define as regionally viral. Today it has 61.5k likes and 16.1k retweets. Based on ViREALity's analysis of the profiles of accounts that liked the tweet, its popularity was due to an overwhelming percentage of British university students interacting with the tweet. 

But why did it gain this much attention? Each day hundreds of thousands of tweets are made about drinking. Why did this one succeed in going viral? Essentially, it boils down to those who interacted with the tweet sharing cultural and geographical values. In England pre-drinking, defined as drinking alcohol, especially in large quantities, before going out socially, is a massive part of university life, as is cold winter weather.

While this tweet was passed off as a funny, relatable joke to many, there is a darker problem hiding behind the tweet that we should not ignore. 

There's no denying that university is a difficult time for many, with a pressure on students to balance their social life alongside their education, financial status, mental and physical health. This tweet suggests that there is a culture of excessive drinking within university life, which is a problem for students' health. While not all students turn to alcohol for stress relief, many students engage in drinking culture throughout the

year. 

Not only does the tweet touch on the topic of excessive drinking, it also highlights the problems students face trying to balance their finances at university. By pre-drinking, the students also reduce the amount of money they will spend that night in bars and clubs. Though there are grants and loans available, copious reporting has showed that both students in college and recent graduates struggle to stay afloat financially.  

So what can we learn from this tweet? Maybe, as a society we should recognize excessive drinking in university as a problematic rather than a societal norm. Universities should also provide more support to students to allow them to relieve stress in healthier ways than drinking, as well as offer tips on how to balance their finances.