Riley WilliamsBeverly Mahone has been sharing her love of vocabulary with the internet since 2021. With more than 2 million followers across TikTok and Instagram, her educational videos have appeared everywhere, from The Shade Room to The Kelly Clarkson Show.
“I’m always amazed at the recognition I receive,” Mahone said. “I’m always amazed at who is following me. I never used to get caught up in that.”
Mahone, known as “Auntie Bev” on social media, has been working at N. C. Central University since 2018 as a writing consultant, coaching students in the writing studio.
In 2021, her grandson encouraged her to start sharing her extensive vocabulary on TikTok. She reluctantly agreed.
“The first word that went viral, that my grandson told me about, was the word cognizant,” she said. “I was very surprised because I thought everyone knew what this word meant.”
“‘Cognizant’ is just another word for ‘to be aware of.’ It’s a fancier word, but my grandson said younger people on TikTok didn’t know the word.”
Mahone said she has been posting videos for years now, and that ideas for new vocabulary words to share come to her naturally.
“I’ve only known Auntie Bev for a couple of years, but I’ve known Beverly Mahone for a long time,” said Brett Chambers, NCCU mass communication lecturer and internship coordinator. “She’s very diligent about what she does, and I’ve always had a lot of respect for her tenacity.”
“She’s not somebody who people have given things to – she’s earned them.”
Gaining followers was never her goal, Mahone said, adding that she initially thought TikTok was a “waste of time.” But she was convinced to try it when her grandson told her that his generation needs more people like her to share their knowledge.
“I think her social media is very informative,” said Taliyah Jordan, a mass communication senior. “I love that she gives us new vocabulary words that you wouldn’t use in your everyday speech.”
“I do like learning new things on social media, because I’m already on there scrolling a lot throughout the day, so why not learn something.”
Being able to help younger generations improve their communication skills is important to Mahone, from the one-on-one work she does with students in the writing studio to the community she has built online.
“Auntie Bev tapped into this whole thing – that people want to learn, they really do,” Chambers said. “She’s also exposed that a lot of people are not up to speed on one of the most important things we have: language.”
“Because how do you communicate if you’re not speaking the same language and using the same vocabulary?”
Encouraging respectful and classy communication is a core component of her videos, but that doesn’t mean Mahone shies away from controversial words or topics.
In February 2022, she recalled having the idea to “flood social media” with vocabulary and history related to Black History Month, and has been doing it every year since.
“This year, I decided to really focus on vocabulary so that the words I chose would match with whatever I’m talking about – the grandfather clause, miscegenation – so you would really understand what these words are,” Mahone said. “I have been intentional with doing that this time around.”
Inspired by the discourse she saw online surrounding the 2024 presidential election, Mahone created a line of pocket-dictionary style guidebooks to help readers “cuss with class.”
“I’ve had some folks from MAGA who have given me poor reviews on Amazon, and that’s okay,” she said. “Because, you know, this was written with the intent of helping people build their vocabulary and not be so nasty in their conversations.”
Between work as a writing consultant, social media professional and author, Mahone said she balances all of her responsibilities because she cares about what she does.
“I believe that when you love what you do, it just all works itself out,” she said. “It’s easy. I love helping students find their voices. Some of them will tell you that I’m really tough on them, and I am, but I want them to shine.”
“Because when you shine, I shine.”
