The best parody accounts on Twitter work because there’s a bit of truth and authenticity buried behind the hyperbole of its tweets. Which is why it makes sense that a Lake Superior parody account has gone viral for dragging people into its watery depths.
That’s right: the hottest thing online is not doomscrolling until you find the next awful thing or scouring paparazzi images of the Greta Gerwig Barbie movie. It’s Lake Superior. You know, one of the five Great Lakes and the biggest freshwater reserve on planet Earth. The account, @LakeSuperior, is not run by a parks department or federal agency, but a normal human woman. Who usually just plays booster to the lake and talks a bit of trash about shallower lakes like Erie and Ontario.
Without me, they would be called the Good Lakes.
— Lake Superior (@LakeSuperior) June 14, 2018
Last week, though, the account tweeted about abortion rights in the wake of the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court, which overturned access to abortion on a federal level.
This lake vehemently stands with women having the right to choose.
— Lake Superior (@LakeSuperior) June 24, 2022
That tweet made some, well, waves. Especially with pro-life enthusiasts who enjoy Lake Superior, apparently. But much like the doomed crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald and HUNDREDS OF OTHER SUNKEN BOATS, they learned in a hurry that you should not mess with the deepest and most terrifying of America’s freshwater lakes.
— Sean Hastings (@whysean) June 26, 2022
While the account hasn’t brought its replies onto its own timeline, they have certainly gotten a lot of attention on Twitter. Screenshots of interactions with upset lake fans went viral several different ways, and garnered a lot of reactions on their own.
damn this lake *is* superior pic.twitter.com/X8cVArfpfT
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) June 28, 2022
Lake Superior explains its politics and I love them https://t.co/W31HkNT6gd
— Annalee Newitz is @annaleen@wandering.shop (@Annaleen) June 27, 2022
https://twitter.com/HollyAnderson/status/1541631311001034752
https://twitter.com/jkass99/status/1541636037633384448
She even got some love from Michigan’s governor, who you would think has a favorite Great Lake that isn’t Superior!
This Governor is proud of Lake Superior, which has really earned its name. https://t.co/bdlCa6e0VV
— Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) June 28, 2022
And while you may not think abortion has much to do with Lake Superior, the owner of the account also knew the score when it comes to water politics, too.
Just to clarify, I am not a brand, I am a lake possessing 10% of the world's freshwater.
I only become a brand when billion dollar corporations like Nestle siphon off Great Lakes water into plastic bottles for damn near free thanks to terrible gov't policy and corporate greed.
— Lake Superior (@LakeSuperior) June 28, 2022
Few parody accounts are actually good these days, but much like the largely unexplored depths of Lake Superior maybe we just haven’t been looking hard enough.