‘Indiana University Memes’ creator talks inspiration, favorite posts

Freshman Nick Janicki is doing more than settling in and learning how to be a Hoosier. He’s running a Facebook page with more than 11,600 “likes.”

Janicki is the creator and administrator of “Indiana University Memes,” a page that went viral in its first 24 hours of existence and continues to grow in popularity. He is training to work at the Indiana Daily Student.

IDS When did you decide to start “Indiana University Memes,” and what gave you the idea?
Janicki To be honest, the idea had been in my head for a while. It’s pretty amusing, seeing everyone making memes now, something that me and my friends have been doing for a couple months, posting them on each other’s walls.
I’m sure most students here have these witty thoughts in their heads — they had just never put them into words, until now.
That’s the great humor behind it. It’s a chance for everyone to share their pet peeves and little idiosyncrasies on campus, and the number of “likes” a particular meme gets really depends on how common people notice these things around campus.

IDS How do you monitor posts? Which earn a spot on the page, and which don’t?
Janicki Well, it’s always been kind of tough, and the more people who like the page, the crazier it gets. We try to filter spam, remove obscene comments on photos and delete memes that are offensive in general.

IDS What makes a great post?
Janicki That’s tough to say. I try to choose or make ones that apply only to IU and not college or education in general because it is, after all, IU’s meme page.

IDS What is the best part of running the page?
Janicki The best thing is seeing people’s reactions to memes. Not actually on the page, but sometimes I just type in “IU Memes” in the search bar on Facebook and view the public posts regarding the meme page, and it’s just awesome to see people posting things like, “IU Memes makes my day.” I just get a good feeling from it.

IDS And the most irritating thing?
Janicki The most irritating thing, without a doubt, are the Purdue students who spend an excessive amount of time commenting on the memes that target our rivals. Clearly we’re going to have memes about our school rivals, and it’s really all in good humor. If there’s a meme about Purdue’s lack of intelligence compared to IU or something of the sort, there will be multiple, sometimes essay-long comments on the meme explaining why it’s wrong and that Purdue isn’t a bad school. It’s like, relax, it’s a meme.