After a year of underground publishing, the ever-restless bloggers of UBC’s tumblr #whatweshouldcallubc agreed to give us a peek into the workings of their now-infamous blog. The anonymous creators started blogging in the fall of 2012, after picking up on the need to create a closer community at UBC. The idea of the UBC blog was born out of their experience of noticing the small, yet quite influential aspects of UBC life. Fast forward one year: they’ve filled in this niche, with over 1200 posts and counting – one of the co-bloggers even revealed that there are a few hundred posts that have yet to be published!
From Harry Potter comparisons to exam rage, rants about the relentless Vancouver rain to the ups and downs of life as a UBC student, UBC’s tumblr page has combined all these facets of life at UBC and encapsulated them into easy-to-digest, witty and relatable gifs. So without further ado, scroll down and get to know the bloggers of UBC’s #whatweshouldcallubc!
1. Can you tell us about what inspired you to create the blog, and what motivates you to continue posting?
#whatweshouldcallubc: I’ve been on Tumblr long before #whatweshouldcallubc was created. Blogging about UBC life finally started after many conversations with my friends joking about how UBC is a perpetual construction zone, our UBC experience so far, and how everyone is experiencing and thinking the same things everyday but no one was brave enough to say it.
I started blogging about little things I noticed about UBC or were UBC-specific in September of 2012. Taking heavily from the whatshouldwecallme blogging format, I initially didn’t know what I had started… now, with a little over 420,000 page views from 129 countries later, I know that I’m not the only one who takes note of even the smallest aspects of campus life. And what motivates me to continue posting? That I finally know there are a lot of people somewhere out there at UBC in the same position as I am, and notice the same things that I do.
Campus Squirrel: I found out about #whatweshouldcallubc through a friend’s link on Facebook sometime in November 2012. Since then, I had been checking the blog for my daily dose of endorphins. After going through all the past posts, I started submitting posts earlier this year. Seeing a lot of notes on my submitted posts really motivated me to think of funnier moments at UBC to capture through gifs. My favourite rebloggers are those who reblog and comment #dying. It really makes me happy that I made someone smile.
2. Have you ever refused to post any of the submissions?
#whatweshouldcallubc: I only refuse submissions if I feel that it’s too much of an advertisement or borders on racist/sexist/offensive/threatening/etc.
3. Are the submissions you’ve received from others mostly anonymous?
#whatweshouldcallubc: A lot of people submit under a pen name, which I try to include in their post unless otherwise requested. There are also a fair amount that submit under their tumblr url.
4. Are your friends/family aware that you’re the creator? How did they find out?
#whatweshouldcallubc: On my end, I’ve told two people: both whom I respect greatly and trust that they won’t tell anyone else.
Campus Squirrel: Only one friend whom I greatly trust knows that I co-blog for #whatweshouldcallubc.
5. Which one of the tags on the blog is your favourite?
#whatweshouldcallubc: I personally like #examrage, #mostpopular, #ubcthings and #submitted posts.
Campus Squirrel: #Meanwhile is my favourite because it’s usually about something that happened recently at UBC or Vancouver that people can instantly relate to or find out. I think this type of posts functions as a casual and funny breaking news collection.
6. What are some of your favourite posts from the blog?
#whatweshouldcallubc: The Hogwarts comparison by Campus Squirrel was an instant classic. Also, I always enjoy when a post I assume won’t be that popular suddenly skyrockets … For instance, the LOTR reference and over-the-top hashtag in this post. #totaldork
7. What’s the best and worst thing about being behind the blog?
#whatweshouldcallubc: The best thing would be that I probably feel that I’ve created a closer digital community on campus through social media. I love when people comment “GPOY”/“THIS IS SO ME”/“100% ACCURATE”, because I know I’ve done something right. That being said, it kind of sucks when someone takes a post too seriously, or doesn’t interpret it the way you intended. I’ve received my fair share of hate mail over the course of this year and a bit, but despite that, there has been an overwhelming amount of people who DO connect with what I do.
The worst thing is probably that I don’t know what will happen to the blog when my university experience comes to an end, or the day that I am no longer blogging for fun – whichever comes first. Fortunately, this year two other anonymous bloggers are so graciously helping me out because of my heavy workload this year; after all, school comes first. (But don’t worry – I’ll be in school for a while.)
8. Do you think you’ve achieved what you initially set out to do?
#whatweshouldcallubc: I’d like to think so. I started out as just your typical university kid blogging about their UBC experiences/observations and I don’t feel like I’ve deviated from that. I initially had a hard time adjusting to UBC life. Similarly, the recurring message in my inbox is that a lot of people feel lost or alone on such a large campus (I reply privately). People have opened up to me and I’m glad they’re comfortable enough to ask a complete stranger for advice: I guess I just really don’t want people to have a bad university experience and hope that even connecting with a random post like complaining about how long the line up is for the 99 will remind them that they’re not alone.
Campus Squirrel: I like the fact that many years later, I can come back to this site and remember every moment that I spent at UBC. Some of the posts that I publish are quite personal even though they are relatable to others, so this blog in some ways serves as a diary for me to look back in my university life. The worst part is that my friends find my posts hilarious and post them on Facebook, but they think I’m really lame in person…
9. Any final comments you’d like to add?
#whatweshouldcallubc: I’d just like to thank everyone who has contributed to #whatweshouldcallubc over the past year. This blog wouldn’t be the same without every single post. I’d also like to thank my co-bloggers for helping me keep #wwscubc updated with the latest UBC news. No matter how small you feel sometimes, UBC wouldn’t be the same without you – who would have held open the door for that person having a bad day? Been their lab partner? Led the group project? Stayed up ’til 3am consoling your roommate? We’re all pieces to a bigger picture and I feel that it’s the little things that make up UBC life. See you on campus :)