Annie Rauwerda (; born November27, 1999) is an American

internet personality An Internet celebrity, also referred to as an Internet personality, is an individual who has acquired or developed their fame and notability on the Internet. The growing popularity of social media provides a means for people to reach a large ...

, journalist, and comedian known for

Depths of Wikipedia Depths of Wikipedia is a group of social media accounts dedicated to highlighting facts from Wikipedia. Created on Instagram by Annie Rauwerda in 2020, the account shares excerpts from various Wikipedia articles on a number of topics. Creation ...

, a group of social media accounts that highlight facts from

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...

. Rauwerda hosts Wikipedia-focused variety and comedy shows based on the accounts. Rauwerda was named the 2022 Media Contributor of the Year by the

Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (WMF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, and registered there as foundation (United States law), a charitable foundation. It is the host of Wikipedia, th ...

, the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia. In June 2023, Rauwerda got considerable social media attention for organizing a

perpetual stew A perpetual stew, also known as forever soup, hunter's pot or hunter's stew, is a pot into which foodstuffs are placed and cooked, continuously. The pot is never or rarely emptied, and ingredients and liquid are replenished as necessary. Such foo ...

in a

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

park.

Early life and education

Annie Rauwerda was born on November27, 1999, and was raised in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. Growing up, she attended the K–12

Grand Rapids Christian Schools Grand Rapids Christian Schools is a private, Christian school system located in Kent County, Michigan, serving students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. The majority of its campuses are situated in Grand Rapids with an additional camp ...

. Before attending college, Rauwerda took a

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is a period of time when students take a break from their studies, usually after completing high school or before beginning graduate school. During this time, students engage in a variety of educatio ...

and served through

AmeriCorps AmeriCorps ( ; officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in ...

as a

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

tutor in Chicago. Following the conclusion of her gap year, she

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 2019, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

in 2022.

Wikipedia

Rauwerda became interested in

while wikiracing in middle and high school. While a sophomore at the University of Michigan during

COVID-19 lockdowns During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Non-pharmaceutical intervention (epidemiology), non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar socie ...

, Rauwerda created

, a group of social media accounts which highlight facts from Wikipedia that she considers "weird and wonderful". The first account was launched on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

in April 2020, and has since expanded to

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

and

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. The accounts combined have millions of followers. In addition to the Depths of Wikipedia social media accounts, Rauwerda hosts Wikipedia-focused variety and comedy shows, going on tour in 2022 and 2023. Rauwerda's first in-person comedy set was in July 2021, expanding to a series of cross-country comedy tours. Her show involves a slides presentation of Wikipedia screenshots, similar to Depths of Wikipedia's online content, and comedy commentary. In August 2022 Rauwerda was named the 2022 Media Contributor of the Year by the

, the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia. In October 2022, she wrote for ''Slate'' about Wikipedia's article on suspicious deaths of Russian businesspeople, highlighting the encyclopedia's usefulness as a source of information in areas facing censorship. , Rauwerda is working on a book about Wikipedia's cultural history.

Perpetual stew

On June7, 2023, Rauwerda started a vegan potato leek stew in a slow cooker in her apartment. Inspired by the concept of a

, some amount of the stew was preserved after each meal and replenished with more broth and ingredients. Rauwerda eventually expanded the "stew nights" to the public, hosting outdoor gatherings at Fermi Park in

Bushwick, Brooklyn Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Williamsburg to the northwest; ...

, where people contributed to and consumed the stew. Participants were encouraged to bring vegan ingredients, with about 300 people contributing to the stew. The stew was cooked for 60 days, ending on August 6, 2023. The events attracted considerable social media attention, in what was described as an "

internet sensation Internet phenomena are social and cultural phenomena specific to the Internet, such as Internet memes, which include popular catchphrases, images, viral videos, and jokes. When such fads and sensations occur online, they tend to grow rapidly ...

" and "all the rage among Gen Zs." Rauwerda documented the progress of the stew on TikTok, where some posts had millions of views. The events gained additional attention for a website documenting it that Rauwerda maintained.

Personal life

Rauwerda adopted a cat from Instagram influencer

Caroline Calloway Caroline Gotschall Calloway (born December 5, 1991) is an American social media celebrity and author who initially developed a following while she was a student at the University of Cambridge. She is the author of the 2023 memoir ''Scammer'', ...

in 2021. Rauwerda lives in an apartment in

, New York.

Selected works

* * * * * *

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rauwerda, Annie 1999 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists American women comedians Comedians from Michigan Journalists from Michigan Mass media people from Grand Rapids, Michigan The Michigan Daily alumni University of Michigan alumni Wikipedia people