Swampy Memes Watch

In a group of 28,000 members who double as also being the content creators, it's somewhat bizarre that 50% of the content is made by the 10 administrators who run the page. Certain admins will post 2 or more memes a day and, if not instantly approve themselves will be instantly approved by another admin regardless of the quality of the content. This inevitably leads to people being discontent, which leads to defensiveness on the part of the page creators who circle the wagons and react with condescension to members who attack the decreasing quality of memes posted by the same admins day in and day out, starting the whole cycle over. Maybe it's a lack of user engagement where not enough people are sending in memes and content so the page runners are forced to make their own. It's somewhat farcical to lambast the lack of ethics in a page devoted to memes making fun of people and relatable experiences around campus, but for many it does impact the enjoyment of bein

In November, 2016, Douglas Haddow of The Guardian wrote  this piece  about meme warfare affecting the 2016 election. In the direct wake of Ken Bone, Donald Trump beating up a CNN logo and Hillary reacting to balloons, people consumed the media (or memes) that conformed to their preconceived beliefs and notions. Even the memes weren't necessarily true, funny or clever, they would disseminate and reproduce the content they found agreeable, which would spread to their social media networks. It's an interesting read that puts the potential reach of the Swampy Memes page in a new light.

Today we talked with Dolores, who leads a double life as a reporter with WUFT-TV and a UF student meme-queen. The discussion included the politics of Swampy memes, favorite meme creators, memes she's personally made, etc. But for the purpose of the blog the answer I included was a rather simple and straightforward one. What are your favorite memes on the page?

It's that special time of year when grade school and college kids alike rot the teeth out of their heads with candy and questionable life choices. Let's look at some memes! In college it's well known that Halloween is celebrated for the whole month. I went to 8 costume parties in October, none of them actually happened on Halloween! This one is just extra spicy when you know the drama and history that led to this image. Let's just say it references the unsavory election tactics and casual racism that has plagued UF Greek life (and one sorority in particular.)

Well guys, we gave it a good run, but both colleges I belong to (CLAS and CJC) fell short in the month-long madness that was the Swampy Memes page bracket. A great tool for community involvement, members used Facebook's reactions to vote for which college they wanted to advance through each round against a rival college. One would think the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, due to its sheer size, would win outright, but in a stunning upset, the engineers pulled it off right under our noses, even if just barely. This one hurt.