Facebook groups offer inside jokes among the UP community, grow in popularity
By Gao Na Yang
"(206): I wish I had one of those remotes from that Adam Sandler movie so I could rewind to last night and not play that last game of pong."
Random? Yes. Strange? Very. It's also a perfect submission to the Facebook group "Texts From Last Night-UP Edition."
Hundreds of UP students are mingling on Facebook groups to share random texts and bits of conversations overheard at UP. "TFLN-UP" currently has 735 members and "Overheard at UP" has 439 members.
"TFLN-UP" provides a convenient place for UP students to share random texts with each other. Friends Ashley Ferguson, senior, and Katie Smith, 2009 alumna, created the Facebook group last spring for entertainment purposes.
"(The purpose of the group) was just to be funny and to let our friends post their TFLN that weren't ever on the real Web site," Smith said.
The original Web site, "Texts From Last Night," was created by Ben Bator and Lauren Leto in February of 2009.
"We just got tired of forwarding amazing texts to all our friends, so we put them on textsfromlastnight.com," Bator, 24, said in an e-mail interview. "It's entertaining to see what people share from their nights out, and definitely sums up a bit about our generation - for better or worse."
While Bator and Leto's site appeals to 18-28 year olds all across the country, Ferguson and Smith wanted an exclusive place for UP students, since many texts are not selected to be posted on the original site.
One post reads, "'(808): So the guy that I danced with is totally in my animal behaviour class.'"
"We just made it for a few of our friends to post whatever texts they wanted," Smith said. "Within a week it had over 500 people and everyone loved it. It wasn't meant to be a big deal at all."
The texts are much tamer than those on the original site, but Ferguson is still concerned with the outcome of the Facebook group because its name implies affiliation with the university.
"We intended for (the group) to just be fun, so we were a little surprised with some of the posts since it's labeled with our school's name," Ferguson said. "Therefore, it represents our school and its students."
The group is just for fun and isn't meant to be negative, Smith added.
Similar to "TFLN-UP," "Overheard at UP" is another Facebook group that provides a place for UP students to share random and funny tidbits of conversations that they overhear on campus.
Junior Lilian Ongelungel created the group last month after hearing about "Overheard in PDX," a blog.
After hearing about blogs, books and Web sites, Ongelungel wanted to experiment with the idea of an exclusive UP group.
One post reads, "'Sometimes when I get feelings for someone I get the urge to just bite them...you know, like a love bite...' Overheard while walking from BC to Franz.'"
"It adds a little more humor," Ongelungel said. "We have a rep of being more rigid or strict. It does add to the culture."
Ongelungel didn't expect "Overheard at UP" to become so popular so quickly. But she insists that the students are behind the humor and entertainment.
"I can't take the credit," she said. "It's really everyone at UP writing down funny things."
Another post reads, "'I was laughing so hard I farted and didn't know what to do' - heard from the other side of Franz.'"
While both pages are not regularly moderated, they are open to any Facebook user within the UP network.
Facebook groups like "TFLN-UP" and "Overheard at UP" provide a sense of escape for students, Smith said.
"They are funny, provide entertainment when we are bored or taking study breaks," she said.
