CORPUS CHRISTI — A Facebook page aimed at providing a forum for Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi students and alumni to share quirky thoughts that mimic campus life seems to have people talking — for better or worse.
And that's the whole idea, one expert says. The goal is conversation.
Topics such as parking, Greek life and faculty, are displayed in the form of memes, or stock images with overlaid type describing a thought or observation about the school or campus life.
The Facebook page, called TAMUCC Memes, has more than 1,540 likes from users and is similar to other pages offering thoughts about happenings, classes, people and the cities of various colleges or universities.
The A&M-Corpus Christi page isn't affiliated with the school here, university officials and the About page on Facebook said.
However, the page is part of a trend that has invaded the worlds of many higher education institutions, including the University of Texas, the University of North Texas and Texas Tech University. Other schools outside of Texas also have pages dedicated to highlighting their schools, such as Arizona State University, and Auburn University.
The sites offer a look at an inner culture of college life that only students from that particular school will understand, said Michelle Maresh, 28, an assistant communications professor at A&M-Corpus Christi.
"They're almost a society of inside jokes," she said.
Student Thadeus Shudark, 20, said he looks at the page if he notices memes posted on his Facebook wall or friends' walls.
The page mainly gives him a way to pass the time, he said.
"For me, it's just a source of entertainment," he said.
Even though many memes are supposed to be funny, some students have found the page to be offensive at times. There have been jokes about faculty and sororities that have spurred debate on whether the page crosses a line in the name of humor.
A&M-Corpus Christi student Chris Barrett, 26, said some people creating the memes may be misinformed about student organizations, such as the 13 Greek life groups on campus.
Plus, he said, the page seems to poke fun at people, genders or groups without a notion of consequences.
"It's an interesting forum, but like any other forum, you have to watch what you say," Barrett said.
Student Josh Carrillo, 20, said the page presents people's ideas in a quirky way that thrives on posts getting attention.
"It's people's opinions," he said. "If you don't like it, don't look at it."
Barrett added that online posts may tend to be more freely distributed or accepted because they aren't being said in person.
"It's the Internet, and you're not supposed to take the Internet seriously," he said, adding that some people may feel less inhibited while communicating online.
Marsh said she often peeks at the meme pages of her alma mater schools: A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas Tech and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She said some posts on meme pages seem to vie for the most likes as if it is a competition.
Yet, some students still find some posts offensive.
Former A&M-Corpus Christi student Alyssa Alvarez, 22, said she has found some posts to be offensive, particularly some referring to her sorority, Tri Delt.
Alvarez, who transferred in the summer to Texas State University in San Marcos, said she recently posted comments on the TAMUCC memes page to defend her sorority sisters when a certain meme seemed to joke about her organization. It wasn't a laughing matter at that point, she said.
"It's not funny when it happens to you," she added.
Some students involved in Greek life organizations discussed concerns about certain posts and comments on the page with A&M-Corpus Christi officials, who later sent an email to the campus fraternities and sororities to impart advice to students who view the page, said Gloria Gallardo, the university's communications and public affairs director.
University officials also contacted Facebook at one point to inform the page creators that they couldn't use the A&M-Corpus Christi logo or mascot image of Izzy the Islander. The licensed material was taken down from the page soon after, Gallardo said.
The Meme Team declined to be interviewed for this article, saying they preferred to leave their identities, including their gender(s) anonymous to maintain a sense of mystery.
Many memes on the page have been lighthearted, bringing up more generalized thoughts about the university bookstore and parking. Those are the types of memes that also can be found on similar pages for other universities or colleges.
"It really is today's youth's way of sharing who you are," Maresh said.
Student Robyn Polanco, 20, said even though the page can bring college students closer together, it also can make communication more complicated than speaking face to face. People can be easily insulted through posts on the Internet.
" I don't think anybody would make any of those jokes to somebody's face," she said.
Carrillo said it is easier to talk with people over the Internet compared to in-person interactions. He added people find dates through sites such as Facebook and eHarmony."The Internet has kind of helped us communicate our ideas and meet people," he said.
Memes are an aspect of communication that people are adapting to as technology continues to evolve, Maresh said.
"It's bringing people together," she said. "It's that bigger culture of college.
"We find something in common with each other."
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BY THE NUMBERS
Here is a look at some aspects of the TAMUCC Memes page, as of this week:
1,545
Number of page likes
299
Number of people talking about the page on Facebook
1,359
Number of likes on the top meme post, which offers a joke about Corpus Christi
173
Number of comments on the top meme post
70
Number of photos on the page
Source: TAMUCC Memes Facebook page
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