Page Title: “College Memes”
Date Meme Published: April 1, 2021
Page Stats: 32,679 likes & 33,377 following
Descriptive Blurb: “The biggest college/university meme page in Ireland”
Webpage: https://www.facebook.com/collegememesire/community/?ref=page_internal
(ii) Text:
(iii) Texture:
The base image for this meme appears to be a still taken of a minor character from a Looney Tunes cartoon. The text has been positioned near the bull’s head in the first scene, and directly between his horns in the second. This indicates to the viewer that the bull is meant to be read as a stand-in for the creator of the meme. I haven’t been able to find any other memes that look like this one, so it’s quite possibly a totally unique, stand-alone meme that has the potential to catch on.
(iv) Context:
While this meme had been posted on a Facebook page that claims to be “the biggest college/university meme page in Ireland,” there aren’t many posts that are actually connected to being an Irish student specifically. It would be easy to mistake the page for one of the many “generic” college meme groups out there that aren’t connected to a particular geographic region. It’s public, so anyone can view the posts, and the community is student-run, not an official platform. The image got 108 likes and 42 comments, with all posters begrudgingly relating to the meme’s message. Most comments were simply “tags,” indicating that many students felt the meme was share-worthy.
(v) Interpretation:
While this may have been true of college students in the past, “imposter syndrome” seems to be far more prevalent in college students today, based on the sheer abundance of self-deprecatory memes on Facebook. Imposter syndrome is not actually a mental illness, and it simply describes the feelings an individual might experience in relation to their perceived incompetence. Many students, even high-achieving ones, may feel like their accomplishments are fraudulent, doubt their academic abilities, and even question the “rightness” of their place at a university. This meme is a classic expression of this feeling of inadequacy, symbolized by the bull’s short horns. His upward gaze is reminiscent of the degree undergraduates are working towards, and once achieved, the bull feels more confident in himself, while still remaining the same “failure” inside as the meme points out. This applies an interesting heaviness to what was originally a light-hearted, funny cartoon, but the scene fits well. The degree is symbolized by the longer horns the bull places on his head, superficially making him look more impressive. In this way, students can see their feelings brought out into the open, where they can be laughed at, thereby making their perceived sense of failure less powerful.