What does Rider meme?
By Amethyst Martinez and Rebecca Taylor Bludgus
Rider students have found a creative outlet for other students to enjoy and relate to: meme accounts.
Across Instagram, many students have been reposting, liking and sharing Rider meme accounts. These accounts post things that students can relate to, such as hard classes, bad dining options on campus and more.
When many of the accounts’ owners were asked for an interview by The Rider News, most opted to keep their personal identity anonymous.
@riderumemes, an account posting relatable photos for students to share, has almost 300 followers on Instagram.
When asked why they wanted to stay anonymous, the student who runs the accounts said, “I just really like the mystery of it. I feel like I know a lot of people on campus, because we are such a small community, so I think it adds a little bit more fun to it.”
The same student also runs @ridercantpark, an account that posts photos of poorly parked cars across campus, and has almost 250 followers on instagram. All of the posts are submitted by students, while the student who runs the account curates the page itself.
“I’ve always been really into memes and making them on my own time for fun. I’ve never been able to share them with anyone. I think it’s a great outlet for my creativity and also for the creativity of other students who also submit their memes. But, I also think that it’s a great way for the Rider community to unite and be able to relate to some of the things I post. It feels like a lot of us can relate to most of them,” said the anonymous student.
While some of the accounts are general to Rider, others revolve around the popular British boy band One Direction, which has been on an hiatus since 2015.
These meme accounts post pictures of the five different band members photoshopped across places on Rider’s campus.
Instagram moderator of @riderharries made their first post on Oct. 17, and five accounts were created afterward: @directionersofrider, @riderniallers, @riderpaynes, @bradfordbadbronc and @riderlouies.
In the past 18 months, students have been stuck at home and are trying to find new ways to engage in the Rider community.
Reagan Wisenbach, a sophomore accounting major, runs @bradfordbadbronc, an account specifically highlighting One Direction member Zayn Malik.
She posts photoshopped pictures of Malik across Rider’s campus, including him with AJ the Bronc and in front of the Bart Luedeke Center.
When asked about why she started the account, Wisenbach said, “I’ve always loved Zayn more, so I felt like it was perfect that I made his. … I saw the Niall [Horan] and Liam [Payne] account followed me on my personal and I was ‘like this is funny’ and ‘should I make one?’”
The student who runs @riderumemes and @ridercantpark said, “I saw the One Direction ones that I so badly wish I ran … because I love One Direction, and I love Harry [Styles]. Seeing those surface, I was like, wait, we don’t even have a meme one. And I wanted to make it, so that’s what really inspired me.” Wisenbach said, “I’ll see something at work or here and I will be like ‘that will be a funny picture’ [and] I’ll save it for later.”
A lot of the meme accounts interact with one another through Instagram.
“I’ve been interacting with them, at least the One Direction ones, we started DMing [direct messaging] and they’re all very friendly … I mean, I don’t even know who they are either,” said the same student.
Although many of the accounts have been created this semester, the hope is to continue posting for future Rider students to enjoy.
The @riderumemes and @ridercantpark owner said, “I don’t have much time left here at Rider. I am a senior, but I do plan on posting up until I graduate, and then hopefully, I’ll have someone who I can pass the account to.”
Rider students can submit their memes to many of these accounts.
“I love all the submissions from people, I’m getting a lot of those. So definitely keep up with the submissions, I love them,” said the anonymous account that runs @riderumemes and @ridercantpark.
