Meme site highlights positive, negative details of University, student life
March 23, 2012
Students can now log onto Facebook and check out the University’s newest inside joke — the “BGSU Memes” page.
These Internet comics are pictures with captions referencing current pop culture and have expanded to smaller subdivisions, like colleges. With the help of “BGSU Memes,” students can create their own memes and upload them.
One such student-created meme showed Union cashier Marge Bednarczyk-Stewart with the caption “I Don’t Always Ring You Up At The Union But When I Do, I Make You Feel Like the Most Special Person To Ever Live.”
“At first I was very embarrassed,” Bednarczyk-Stewart said after her husband showed her the meme online. “But then I thought it was great, and I love the comments the kids made.”
Facebook users commented on the “Marge Meme” and voiced their appreciation for the cashier, saying how wonderful and kind she is.
“I was so tickled and flattered,” Bednarczyk-Stewart said. “At least now I know I make an impact on someone’s day and make them smile.”
Some memes featured on the site focus on the negative aspects of the University. Freshman Marissa Stewart recently uploaded a meme with the caption “I Don’t Always Ask For A Housing Deposit, But When I Do, I Don’t Take VISA” after experiencing some frustration when she tried to submit her housing deposit for this fall.
Stewart said she never expected her housing meme to become as popular as it is now.
“I thought maybe a couple people would like it, and unless they‘re friends with me, they wouldn’t like it,” Stewart said. “I never thought it’d get more than 10.”
The housing meme has over 50 likes on Facebook, including people who are not friends with Stewart.
Although her meme showed some annoyance at the University, instead of appreciation, Stewart said she thinks it’s all in good fun.
Freshman Ashlee Thomas used her meme to celebrate the fact she lived in Offenhauer and not Falcon Heights as she watched residents of the neighboring residence hall standing outside at odd hours. Thomas uploaded a meme that read “Two Fire Drills In Falcon Heights Today, Lives In Offenhauer.”
“I thought some people might find this funny and they did,” Thomas said. “But some memes are so overdone now. If it’s not incredibly funny, then there’s no point.”
Thomas said most people find the Memes on the “BGSU Memes” site funny, but some viewers may find them offensive.
Whether the memes are offensive or not is up to the uploader and the “BGSU Memes” administrator. However, some memes, like in Bednarczyk-Stewart’s case, help people to realize how much they appreciate the University.
“This is the best job I’ve ever had. It’s crazy and it’s fun,” Bednarczyk-Stewart said. “There’s a lot of teamwork and I work with some funny and really neat people.”
Perhaps the main reason why “BGSU Memes” has more than 3,200 likes is the feeling of community and the humorous spin the site puts to life at the University.
“It’s kind of like an inside joke,” Thomas said. “And everybody likes to be on the inside.”