When deciding on a university, there are a few different factors you need to take into consideration, including location, entry requirements, and most importantly, the quality of the university meme page.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock since first year, you’ve probably heard of and maybe even follow @uniofliverpoolmemepage on Instagram. Their memes and specialised UoL content make the page a great place for Liverpool students to come together over all sorts of issues, from trivial discussions about the best nights out in Liverpool to more seriously raising awareness of social injustices. Perhaps one of the best things about the meme page is the admin’s anonymity, creating an intriguing and mysterious persona for their followers to second guess themselves over. Could it be your neighbour? A course mate? Or maybe even someone in your friendship group? Well, we managed to get in contact with the person behind the memes and while we can’t reveal too much about their identity, we can give you an insight on the (albeit nameless) big name on campus.
Where did the page come from?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxZpOW8gsHf/
The meme page was created in January 2019, as Alex (name changed to maintain their anonymity) saw an opportunity to create relatable memes for University of Liverpool students because there weren’t really many at the time. Alex explained that they were inspired by other university meme pages, some of which had been around for quite sometime before theirs. As I ask whether running a meme page is actually as easy as they initially thought, Alex laughs casually and says that yes, it is. They explained how a lot of content is shared between the different university meme pages and that they also get a high volume of submissions from students. In fact, the page’s first post to reach 1000 likes was a TikTok sent in by a follower! Aside from that, Alex claims that creating their own memes isn’t too time-consuming, as they often come across content that’s easy to recreate or manipulate to suit UoL students. They save all this content and then will create loads of memes on a Sunday, to then slowly release throughout the week. If you ask me, though, I reckon the overall maintenance of the page; posting memes, replying to DMs, even just the content they post on stories is a lot of effort – I don’t know if I’d have the energy for all that alongside my degree!
Alex’s memes cover every aspect of life at University of Liverpool from COVID-19, to ridiculing the different University of Liverpool accommodations. Some of the page’s early followers may remember memes slating Carnatic for its dangerous living conditions and overall grim reputation, but what Alex never let on was that all this masked their regret at declining a room there and instead choosing Crown Place! When asked whether they had a favourite meme out of all the ones they’ve posted, Alex reminisced over some of their most popular memes, such as this physical meme from October 2020 that they posted from outside the Sydney Jones library.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFy3kFCMPAD/
This, they went on to say, was something that hadn’t really been done before by other university meme pages, which was perhaps why it was so popular with followers. Another of their favourites is this meme complaining about the university’s choice to use both VITAL and CANVAS at once.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIiFJ9Ssdap/
Things you might not know…
Over the two years the page has been active Alex has acquired 12.5k followers, making them quite an influential figure amongst UoL students. This power over the student body is certainly being used for good, with Alex using the platform to inform their followers about Liverpool’s shameful and prominent ties to the slave trade and vocalising the inappropriateness of Greenbank’s Gladstone Block, which has now been renamed following campaigning. Alex is also a strong supporter of student-run businesses, and is always eager to advertise them on their Instagram story, and these are then saved to the ‘UoL entrepreneur’ highlight on their profile. Alex explained how student businesses, they advertise them for free the first time, unlike with other businesses that approach them, so if you’re starting up a side hustle, I’d definitely recommend giving the meme page a message!
Back in February, Alex collaborated with the Liverfess admin to bring students a matchmaking service for Valentine’s Day, at a time where it’s difficult to get out of the house and meet new people. Alex had a team of 13 people who worked with them to match 650 people with at least one person each. As I asked Alex whether they were pleased with the outcomes, it’s clear from their reaction just how happy they were that it worked for so many people. They described how cool the whole process of organising the matchmaking was with their team. Hopefully, the success of this means they’ll be making it an annual event!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIQL4CjM_tQ/
The campus’ worst kept secret
One of the biggest questions on my mind was how Alex actually manages to keep their identity secret, because I know if I was the admin behind the meme page, it wouldn’t stay anonymous for long! The novelty of running the page hasn’t worn off for Alex yet, as they described the strange feeling of seeing someone wearing a UoL mask, and realising it’s likely that they follow Alex without realising it’s them – I can only imagine how weird that is. Alex describes their identity as ‘the most poorly kept secret’, because they’re often introduced by their friends as the person who runs the meme page. Despite this, Alex’s identity still largely remains a secret to their 12.5k followers. When asked whether they would reveal their identity to followers when they graduate, Alex didn’t seem sure yet. They explained the possibility of a face reveal but is yet to decide.
The mystery behind the memes’ opinions
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLWUHkys5uO/
One of the key elements of student life in Liverpool is the nights out, so obviously we had to find out which club we’d be most likely to find Alex in on 21st June. Without hesitation, Alex told me that the first night back out has to be The Raz, purely because it’s Liverpool’s most iconic Monday night out. Their actual favourite club night though, is torn between Heebie Jeebies’ Dirty Antics on a Thursday, and Electrik Warehouse’s Medication on a Friday – clearly they have taste and an eye for good drinks prices. They gave honourable mentions to both Baa Bar and Bar Ca Va for their funky and affordable shots. The meme page is known for slating Level on multiple occasions, but when asked for their actual opinion on the Nightclub, Alex admitted that it is actually decent for events such as New Year and Halloween, but on a normal night, they’d steer clear!
A couple of weeks ago, someone submitted a controversial Liverfess complaining about how ‘freshers have it too good now’, thanks to the meme page and Liverfess. This received a lot of backlash, given that this year’s freshers didn’t even get an actual freshers week. When I mentioned this post to Alex they seemed thrilled with how highly their page is viewed, before explaining their view that we are the luckiest generation to go through a pandemic when you compare it to those in the past. They explain that obviously, we’re extremely unlucky to be living through a pandemic, but we have modes of communication that previous generations to suffer pandemics had to live without, allowing us to maintain contact with our friends, as well as to make new connections. The matchmaking service is an example of this, in that despite being unable to go out and meet people, we have the technology to be put into contact with people and then have a virtual meetup or date with them! Throughout the past year, Alex has been sharing forms and petitions for students to sign regarding the university’s handling of the pandemic.
What next?
Something we’re all wondering, is what will happen to the meme page when Alex eventually graduates, but even they aren’t sure yet. Obviously, Alex must be worried that their years of hard work will be wasted if the page ends up in the wrong hands. Because of this, it’s looking likely that Alex will begin to monetise the page, which would give whoever takes over an incentive to keep the page a well-maintained space for UoL students to share their memes and carry on benefitting the student community. Alex explained that in monetising that page, they make sure to use adverts their followers would find useful, steering clear of any businesses that will disadvantage students, such as dodgy essay writing services. Hopefully, whoever Alex chooses to carry on their legacy will do the job justice!
You can find @uniofliverpoolmemepage on Instagram for more memes and interesting content, including suggestions of exciting Lockdown date ideas, student businesses and more.
