We spoke to @imjustyork about what it’s like to run a uni meme page at York

When the essay deadlines are piling up and you have about eight lectures to catch up on, what better way to distract yourself than scrolling through memes about the Salvos smoking area or Ziggy’s toilets?

Admittedly when I started uni in 2019 (feeling like a pensioner writing this), Instagram meme pages weren’t massively a thing and Facebook dominated (Yorfess was where it was at). But in more recent years, Instagram has become the place to be with Insta memes and confession pages popping up all over the shop for every college at York.

But with over 10.4k Instagram followers, York Uni meme page @imjustyork is by far the biggest student meme page in York. Their bio reads: “Uni of York confessions and memes. Follow for all the York sass.” They post informative content such as the best gyms or hairdressers in York as well as memes, sharing our articles (thanks, legends), and tips for Freshers.

So determined to find the masterminds behind the memes, we chatted to the admins of @imjustyork about what it is like to run a uni meme page and this is what they had to say:

‘Student pages were the only thing that kept us informed about uni during lockdown’

Via @imjustyork

The page started in the admins’ second year at York: “Our flat used to love the concept of student pages (pages like The Tab) they were the only things that kept us informed about uni stuff during the lockdowns!” Big up the Tab praise there.

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They continued: “In our second year, our house started this page together. We all chipped in and taught ourselves how to design the content. Admittedly, one girl worked on it more than the others but it was still a group effort. And it just then took off from there.”

‘Never in a million years did we think it’d become this big’

The admins said they never thought they would get as many followers as they currently have. “We started imjustyork because we thought it would be fun, don’t get me wrong it still is! But never in a million years did we think it would become this big.”

‘We LOVE sports, clubbing and cheap Hull Road Co-Op deals!’

Via @imjustyork

I attempted to probe the identities of the elusive admins with limited success. I learnt that there are four admins of the page. “Admittedly two of us are extremely busy and the girl who mainly got the page started is doing a year abroad so at the minute only one person (myself) puts out the content until next year when I graduate and the other admin takes her place back on the throne.”

In information I’m sure you were all dying to know, the admins “love sports, clubbing and cheap Hull Road Co-Op deals.” Relatable.

‘It keeps us busy when the lectures get boring’

In terms of creating new content, they said they “just keep an eye on what’s going on and stay on top of the latest trends. We make the memes on our computers and it keeps us busy when the lectures get boring.

“Some of our favourite memes have to be the ones about how much we all love Long Boi (may he rest in peace). Silly memes about clubbing and college bater are always fun too, we think it really brings out the student spirit in people!”

‘The university and YUSU have always been great with us’

Hoping for some tea, I asked the admins about any potential beef between the page and the uni but was surprised to learn that there was zero. They said: “The University and YUSU have always been great with us, especially YUSU. They’re very supportive of our content and even like it from time to time.”

‘We love to use the platform to help people any way we can’

The admins said they still love running the page: “We do get a lot of messages but that’s a part of it. At the end of the day, we love to use the platform to help people in any way we can. Whether that’s through informing or assisting students, I think our platform has done so much good.”

And in news I’m sure everyone is relieved to hear, the page will continue to run next year. The admin said: “When our friend gets back from her year abroad she’ll be taking it back off my hands. She did so much work on getting it started and is such a good admin.”

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Uni of York’s SU is raising up to £10,000 to build a statue of Long Boi in his memory

• DJ Jason Reilly set to headline on campus club night

• The 10 different kinds of students you’ll find in York Library during exam season