Ok folks, bear with me here.
I know our demographic skews a little younger than some of our competitors, but even then, most of you reading this are either a Boomer, a Gen X’er or a Millenial and I’m going to count it as a win that you guys even clicked this article to begin with.
Most of you have no idea what the ‘Burnerverse’ is, and to be honest, a few weeks ago, neither did I.
I spend a good deal of my social media time on X (formerly Twitter), mostly because this is where news is breaking first, and this is where people are giving their take on that news. For me personally, I’m interacting with NC State fans most of the time. I write articles. The guys at PI post those articles and then people come on and give their take on what I wrote. It’s fun, and it’s usually the same people either loving or hating my take.
But over the past couple of years, something has changed and if you’ve been over on X, interacting with NC State Twitter, then you’ve likely seen it.
Introducing, the ‘Burnerverse’
There is a small, but growing community of new accounts that popped up sometime in late 2022 or early 2023. They all had one thing in common. Most of them had a name of a former NC State player or coach, and then the word ‘Burner’.
For instance…
There is Philip River Burner, ‘Bradley Chubb’s Burner, Emeka Emezie’s Burner, Kevlin’s Burner, Trevor Lacey’s Burner, Doeren’s Burner, Avents Burner, Gary Hahn’s Burner, Belltower Burner.
I could go on and on. There are probably over 50 of these accounts out there, some more active than others.
And if you’re wondering what a ‘Burner’ is, then you’re not alone. A ‘Burner’ is a term that has gotten traction during the social media age, mostly used on Twitter (X).
A Burner is a secondary social media account that someone uses to shield their identity.
For instance, if you have a Twitter (X) that uses your real name, or a name that can be traced back to you rather easily, but you want to write some wild things, or talk smack to someone anonymously, then you create a new account… a ‘Burner’ account.
Now, a Burner account in a normal world would be something completely obscure. The point of the burner account is that no one knows it’s you. So part of the humor of these accounts are getting at is that these NC State Burner’s are literally calling out the fact that they are ‘Burners.’ And while they use the names of former NC State players/coaches/sites, they don’t pretend to be that person. In fact, almost all of their profiles go out of the way to explain that it’s not that person and they are simply a parody account.
This sounds dumb. What the heck is this all about?
I told you, bear with me…
I started seeing these accounts commenting on some of my posts over this past year, and engaging with me and the PI main account a lot more. But what caught my attention was that almost every burner account I came in contact with had me laughing. When we traced back the most viral ‘NC State memes’ they were usually originated from someone in the NC State ‘Burnerverse.’
Now, I don’t agree with everything they say, but as someone who appreciates a good meme, most of these guys were funny. They were outspoken and they were riding the highs and lows of NC State sports. Some may call them unhinged, some may call them low-brow, but the funny thing is, they’d probably agree with you.
When things were good, the ‘Burners’ were cranking out memes about how good we are and trash-talking our rival fans on social media while pushing for NIL donations.
But when things were going bad, the Burners didn’t mince words, and instead of writing long rants into the ethos, they were creating soul-crushing memes that they’d all come together to share and retweet.
This community was smart. They were like-minded NC State fans who were gaming the algorithm and enhancing their reach by amplifying each other’s voices.
Here are a few examples….
As the memes spread, the community grew.
But as the community grew, the division began. Older NC State fans began to criticize these accounts for being too critical of the program or too harsh with their humor even when it was positive. Meanwhile, the ‘Burners’ were frustrated with the older fans for being too soft, too easily offended, and stuck in an echo chamber.
There was a sharp divide and it was obvious to me that it was generational. The older fans were used to these criticisms being somewhat hidden inside message board threads, but the Burners were younger, grew up with social media, and felt their behavior was very much ‘normal’ for 2025 social media standards.
As someone who studies trends in communication and marketing, this was fascinating to me.
At this point, I wanted to understand what was going on straight from the source. So I sent out the call…
I got a ton of responses from inside the ‘Burnerverse’…
While some were skeptical and kept their distance, others DM’d me and the interviews began.
I asked them all the same questions.
1) What is the NC State ‘Burnerverse’?
2) Why do you participate?
3) What do you want everyday NC State fans to know about this movement?
For the most part, every answer was pretty similar. These Burners are just super-fans who want to talk NC State and are doing it in a way their generation is familiar with doing it…
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While there were a lot of great responses, ‘The Belltower’s Burner‘ really summed things up the best…
On what it is…
To my knowledge, it didn’t start as a conscious movement or anything. The first burner account I remember is Doeren’s Burner (cOldslaw). It is comprised of NC State fan X accounts and I don’t remember when this happened but sometime in early 2024/late 2023, maybe around the March madness run, a lot of us started changing our account names to some famous NC State player or icon and becoming burners. I got in kind of early so I got the Belltower.
On why he participates…
I participate because it’s fun (unless everybody is losing their minds over a loss or something). It’s also informative. You can learn a lot about what’s going on surrounding the sports programs, as well as get to know the fan base. Since everyone is anonymous (or at least they try to be) you get an unfiltered look into what the fan base is thinking. That’s not always a good thing because people can be dramatic, but for the most part, it’s really enjoyable and there’s a lot of humor to it.
On the goals of the movement…
There are no conscious goals, apart from maybe group coping/celebration. The point of it, I would say, is that it connects you with other people who are highly interested in NC State athletics. For example, my significant other likes NC State a lot but doesn’t care enough to talk about individual players or the intricacies of an athletic program. The Burnerverse gives you a community to draw information from and converse with about a topic we are all interested in.The memes are also excellent. One positive thing that I do think comes from the Burners interaction with recruits and players. Some of the players are on X and interact with the fan base…. Personally, I was exposed to the (NIL) collective, Savage Wolves, through the Burnerverse so I guess that gives it a financial purpose as well.
On what everyday NC State fans should know…
It’s just for fun. Other fan bases have Burnerverses as well and they can get really toxic.
For the most part, ours has been fun and lighthearted. People talk about sports and campus culture a decent amount. I remember distinctly one time one of the Burner accounts asked for advice because he was taking a girl out on a date and wanted advice on where he should take her and what they should do. In short, it’s a place to blow off steam for state fans and it makes me laugh.
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The ‘Burnerverse’ isn’t new. It’s always been a part of NC State. This is just its most recent form
Long story short, this is what a modern digital community looks like in 2025. The rise of the Burnerverse isn’t just happening here at NC State, its happening all across the nation at any university with a rabid fan base.
If you’re a long-time NC State super fan then you’ve seen this exact movement in different forms, heck you may have even been part of it at some point.
With the rise of the internet, came the rise of digital communities and NC State certainly had their own.
Most super fans in the early days were engaging in the chat rooms of StateFans.com. A place where you’d go to celebrate the wins and vent about the losses with an anonymous user name. It was chaos, but it was fun. Sure, there were the politically correct and the more level-headed fans in there, but there was also a subset of fans who wore their emotions on their sleeve and were very vocal about the team win or lose.
And as the internet progressed, so did these digital communities.
Message boards became the medium for discussion about NC State sports, replacing chat rooms.
Suddenly, the back-and-forth conversation between fans didn’t have to be so disjointed and time-sensitive.
Message Boards (or Forums) allowed for conversations to be categorized by topic. This created a much more organized discussion. But even then, these anonymous emotional fans were a huge part of making these communities a success. Their emotional rants kept things interesting and spurred conversation (and arguments).
They became so loud and so popular, that the then NC State Atheltic Director Lee Fowler dubbed them “The Lunatic Fringe.’
Now, 20 years later, social media has taken over as the new medium. And in the early days of social, much like the chat room era, the conversation has been disjointed and time-sensitive. It was less community and more every man for himself, just tweeting into the abyss.
This kept message boards, and honestly, it kept larger social media accounts (like Pack Insider’s) relevant because those places were able to consolidate conversation around NC State sports.
But a few years ago, just like the way message boards became a more organized version of chat rooms, the ‘Burnerverse’ has become a new, more organized way to use social media for younger fans.
Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Say what you want, but in my opinion, this group, regardless of the medium, has been very impactful over the years. They care so deeply, and are so vocal, that it bleeds into the mainstream.
This group, over the years, has been the reason NC State fans are known to outsiders as passionate, die-hard, and loyal.
Now, they may also be part of the reason outsiders may consider NC State fans delusional or overly demanding.
But at the end of the day, they are a group of fans who LOVE this University and will not accept mediocrity. Even if that means building and rebuilding over and over again until NC State either wins consistently or they, themselves, expire.
I started this piece by looking at the ‘Burnerverse’ as a new phenomenon, but after doing my research, I realized that it’s just a new form of an old movement.
These super fans are no different than you and I, when we were a young super fans.
They are riding the emotional roller coaster that is NC State sports, and using humor to cope with the stress and anxiety that comes with it, just as you and I did in the chat room or on the message boards.
Their humor might not be your cup of tea. They might be too brash and too opinionated for you, and that’s totally fine. But they are a faction of fan that makes up, and has always made up, Wolfpack Nation.
There is a reason NC State, even in a down year, is a Top-30 team in attendance. There is a reason, that despite our donor class and size, that we have a healthy NIL program. There is a reason NC State is known for the loyalty and passion of its fanbase.
Its because the conversation never stops.
When we win, we celebrate together, and when we lose we fight each other, but when it comes down to it, we’re family. (Coming from an Italian family, I can attest to this type of dysfunction, anchored by a foundation we all agree on, creating an unbreakable bond.)
At the end of the day, it’s apathy that is the death knell for any sports program. And whether you like or agree with this sect of the fanbase or not, they are on the frontlines waging that invisible war, committed to not allowing apathy to set in here at NC State.
To me, the ‘Burnerverse’ has a very obvious role within this fanbase.
They are here to be the digital army that recruits the next generation of NC State fans. Because if you haven’t noticed, the 15-25-year-olds aren’t on message boards, they aren’t commenting on Pack Insider articles. These fans are on social media, looking for something to be a part of. The Burnerverse speaks to them, welcomes them in, and introduces them to the world of NC State sports.
That fan may be the next generation of season ticket holder or the next big NIL donor down the line. But the truth is, none of these NC State media sites, this one included, is doing a good job of speaking to Generation Z or Gen Alpha. And based on our business models and our delivery methods, it isn’t likely that’ll change anytime soon.
The media landscape is changing and it’s the ‘Burnerverse’ who is on the forefront of that shift. So like them or not, agree with them or not, they’re an integral part of fan recruitment, interaction, and a part of the future of NC State fandom. Just like the chat rooms and message boards helped create a generation of super fans, the ‘Burnerverse’ is likely next in line.
As Winston Churchill once said, “The price of greatness is responsibility.” And while I’m not sure if that quote even makes sense here, the point is, no one is going to stop the ‘Burnerverse’ from growing. It’s here and for the foreseeable future will run parallel to credentialed media fan sites on social feeds. But the only hope is that the ‘Burnerverse’ understands the power it wields, and uses that power to help NC State build the biggest, most passionate, mostly loyal, least apathetic fanbase in the nation.
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Thank you to all of those who participated in the interviews, including Kelvin’s Burner, Doeren’s Burner, TLB, Bradley Chubb Burner, Bell Tower’s Burner, Philip Rivers Burner, Avents Burner, Emeka Emezie’s burner, Bryant Moreland (a Burner OG), Markell Johnson Burner, and Gary Hahn’s Burner.
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