The Morning Devil, a Poly Prep social media journalism platform, has expanded its scope beyond student life content. This now reaches to arts, sports, news, and spotlighting the Student Service Board and clubs, only one year after its launch. “We want to cover a more diverse array of Poly Prep students and show the aspects of what makes us. We have the student life, which we’ve been doing, but also the sports aspect and the arts aspect and then news coverage,” Co-leader Sasha Gilyadoff ’26 explained.
Co-leader Ellie Warwick ’26 highlighted how The Morning Devil’s expansion goes beyond “fun student life questions,” opening the door to new, creative possibilities. They have executed other alternatives that remain interactive and engaging with the students, while also keeping them updated on Poly news and events. So far, they have made news videos and montages, and have been working on sports videos as well. “We have a lot of opportunity,” Warwick stated.
Additionally, The Morning Devil has introduced new members to provide structure and fresh perspectives from all grades. At Poly, students are encouraged to explore all extracurriculars, and The Morning Devil offers a platform for students interested in the arts, sports and news to do just that. Emma Lattinelli ’27 is a new member of The Morning Devil as the Co-leader of the sports section. “I was really interested in it, because I play sports at Poly, and I thought that it would be really cool to do edits of all the different sports,” Latteneli explained.
With the help of all of these new members, The Morning Devil has been thriving, as their social media accounts’ activity continues to grow and gain new interest daily. The Morning Devil uploads their content to both Instagram and TikTok. The Morning Devil’s growing popularity caught so much attention that their content, including the “Senior Sunrise” and “Polyball in Vegas” videos, was featured on the official Poly Prep Instagram account. The Morning Devil’s most successful Instagram video has reached an impressive 452,000 views. In a conversation about social media algorithms and the most effective ways to engage audiences, Gilyadoff said, “the way to break an algorithm is creating videos that look the same, and posting them as regularly as possible.” This is why the Morning Devil created their own original style using fonts, sounds, and dynamics to remain distinctive and recognizable across their platforms. By posting multiple times each week, The Morning Devil focuses on consistency as a key strategy to increase visibility and expand their reach. As a result, The Morning Devil couldn’t “believe that one of our [TikTok] videos had reached 800,000 views,” said Gilyadoff.
The Morning Devil has been completely revamped, as it started in October 2024, as an unstructured broadcasting channel. Gilyadoff and Warwick have refurbished it into a well-developed club and platform for student voice. As social media activity grew, the increase in student involvement overwhelmed The Morning Devil, prompting this expansion.
The freedom of a student-led club opens up many opportunities for The Morning Devil, allowing it to shape and influence the Poly Community. “This club can honestly be whatever we make it to be, or whatever others make it to be,” Warwick stated. This open structure creates a welcoming atmosphere for the students and encourages creativity and experimentation within journalism. The purpose of The Morning Devil is to be more than a club; it’s a platform where students’ voices, ideas, and opinions can make an impact on Poly.
