“FIU Meme Generators” find humor in campus life

By: Esra Erdogan/Life! Editor

 

It’s hard to put a face to a meme.

An Internet meme is defined as an idea, parody or imitation made into an image that spreads quickly. Memes are easily shared through social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Since Oct. 3, the FIU Meme Generators’ Facebook page grew from obscurity to over 1,900 likes. In addition to making an appearance on ESPN2, the Generators were featured on sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault, where they were snapped by a photographer in the stands at the football game against Troy.

Some of their most popular memes have been a comic depicting a student walking on a sidewalk at the University who is pushed  off because of a rogue golf cart, Roary bragging about the Panthers’ football record and “Philosoroary” who asks “Does FIU win because I go to the games or do I go to the games because FIU wins?”

The Generators’ personas are Mr. Blue, described as “the muscle,” Mr. Red, “the intellectual” and Mr. Green, “the wildcard.” The idea to create the meme page arose while the Generators were watching a football game.

“We were at Sports Grill [the afternoon of the Duke game] and there was a little boy holding up a sign that said ‘I like turtles’ and right there I was like, ‘You know what? FIU needs fans like that.’ So we went ahead and decided to make Internet memes enjoyable to all FIU students,” said Mr. Blue.

They have decided to stay in disguise to secure the attention around the humor.

“We are the fans that FIU deserves but not the fans that they need right now. If by any chance anyone were to find out who we are, the attention would be taken off FIU and [placed] on us. We really want the focus to be on FIU and the hilarity that we all deal with everyday at FIU. It’s a love that comes from the frustration,” said Mr. Blue.

The Generators showcased the hilarity at the Oct. 25 football game against Troy.  Before the game, they posted a poll on their Facebook page, “The FIU Meme Generators,” letting the fans submit and vote on which meme they would create posters of.  Garnering much attention, the Generators were even knighted by the object of many of there memes, FIU mascot, Roary.

“We actually really do love Roary. We gave him a poster of the ‘Three Roary Moon’ [at the last game],” said Mr. Blue. The hobby is a passion for the Generators, who spend their own money on the projects like making t-shirts and posters to give away to fans.

“There are licensing issues when it comes to the FIU logo, thus we are unable to sell anything. We are working with President Rosenberg on getting some form of licensing agreement but he flew out today so he couldn’t meet with us,” said Mr. Blue. The Generators will not reveal their identities or just how many faces work behind the masks.

“Numerous people are involved, we haven’t actually counted,” said Mr. Red. “We have alumni and we have students. I believe we even have faculty, but I’m not sure,” said Mr. Blue.

There is a process in choosing which memes make the cut. “All our ideas are collective,” said Mr. Green. “We have little committee meetings. We don’t just throw things out there. This is not an anarchy,” said Mr. Red.

Since the start, fans have asked about submitting their own memes, and so the Generators created a contest. The top three memes were voted on by fans and the Generators promised to make a sign with the winner to take to the next home game. They have decided to hold another contest for the final home game of the season on Nov. 12. Fans can submit their memes by Nov. 8 by emailing FIUmemes@gmail.com.

Expect the Generators at the next home game. “We have a few things up our sleeves,” said Mr. Red.

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