Jobs and Politics

I think two of the most stressful things any American deals with are politics and finding a job. Fortunately for lovers of memes, both of those things came into the fray this week on campus thanks to Student Government elections and Career Showcase week. While most meme battles and "fights" that happen in the Swampy Meme page are lighthearted fun based around which library (Team Marston!) is better, things got very serious this week.

Impact party (referred to often as The System Party in the Swampy Memes pag, due to it allegedly being a rebrand of past Greek dominated parties Swamp and Unite)  has always been the target of hostile memes on both UF alumni Facebook pages and twitter accounts. Very rarely are any memes posted in support of Impact, or attacking independent/minority student government members. However, that changed this week after a sitting Impact senator, who posted he was tired of propaganda, mocked the new Inspire party for their serious approach to Student Government with a meme that generated some of the highest traffic ever in the 22,000 member group.

A quick look at the comment section will show that this was not taken very lightly by Inspire supporters, who hurled some abuse at the poster. Supporters of the poster, who either support Impact or just don't care about Student Government, were also active in the comment sections. Regardless some campaign rules may have been violated, as the post was reported to Student Government leadership.


As if this wasn't stressful enough, job fair also commences this week! While these memes were less hostile to other members of Swampy Memes, they no less had a somewhat dark element to them. After all, humor is a great coping mechanism when it comes to anxiety over one's future and financial situation.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Out of Context Porn Memes

Image
Now, I'll be honest here. These are juvenile but undeniably hilarious. The recent trend of out of context porn snapshots repurposed to display the minds of college Gators is a little random but ultimately shows the creativity and internet culture that defines the humor of the millennial generation. Even the negative reactions to this trend have resulted in funny memes. Because many of the same pictures are being recycled into different set ups and scenarios, people have grown a little weary (not me) and have responded in kind. I think this shows that the humor on campus can come from anywhere. Soon this trend will fade and we'll see a new format pop up for a little while like political alignment memes and screenshots of badly translated anime.
Read more

The Admin Problem

Image
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
Read more

Halloween Memes!

Image
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.)
Read more