Lately, Facebook news feeds all over campus have been blowing up with the latest Creighton University memes.

This recent explosion of memes is true not just for Creighton, but for friends of mine at other colleges and universities all over

the country.

But why? I mean, memes are not some new thing. In fact, they have been around for a while — we can thank Reddit for that.

Memes are appealing, hence their popularity. It is funny to take recognizable pictures or drawings and add inside jokes that are common observations or complaints among students.

For example, two Creighton memes that are particularly well done are the hipster cat that “Liked Brandeis before it was renovated,” and the wolf growling that “It’s pronounced Wednes-JAY.”

Both of these, as well as a number of other memes, are so true that this only further enhances their overall appeal. I’m assuming the public acknowledgment of what everyone else is thinking is what makes it funny.

Memes are also appealing because they are sources of school pride. We all partake in playful banter about the sub-standard aspects of our school. In fact, we are so comfortable with our faults that we make fun of ourselves. The Creighton memes are like a series of inside jokes.

Think about it this way: when you are hanging out with your friends you may think something is funny but to a third party, or the person sitting in the booth behind you at Brandeis, you aren’t funny. To them you are obnoxious and laughing foolishly for no apparent reason. Memes are like inside jokes between friends, but school wide.

So how long will the Creighton memes last? I am not sure this is just another fad.

Memes might be around for a while for two reasons.

First, inside jokes between friends, groups of friends or an entire campus never get old. Jokes between you and your high school friends or you and your roommate freshman year are still funny, am I right?

Second, things always happen on campus and although we are supposedly “young adults” we are still kids at heart and, like any rambunctious child, we pounce on anything that we can make fun of or ridicule in some way.

The results are memes dripping with wit. By virtue of being around a lot of other people, like a college campus for example, new material comes up nearly every day.

The beauty of memes is that anything and everything is fair game. The only threshold that must be met is whether or not other people agree with you. I guess the number of “Likes” on Facebook is the best indicator of whether or not you are right. Like any good middle school relationship, the more “Likes” you have the more official it is.

I’d like to leave readers with one final thought about their criticisms and the targets of some of these memes. Can you imagine what professors and administrators would write on memes about students? Keep that in mind as you laugh hysterically at the latest Creighton meme.