The newest Facebook page for Carnegie Mellon students to like is “OMG CMU” created by Victor Ng and Brier Avil. It is a page that features warped Photo Booth images of students and written statements about the quirkiness of CMU. After enjoying the page myself I interviewed Victor Ng to find more about the inspiration behind this funny webpage.
OMG CMU was inspired by two classes. While performing in an improv class, seniors Victor Ng and Brier Avil realized that people found it easier to be more open in front of strangers than they did in front of friends, and that it is possible to extract “honest, candid, and humorous answers” from a group of strangers. In Wonder Lab, Victor and Brier’s communication design class, a class assignment encouraged them to “re-imagine ways of researching people by soliciting information in an unconventional way and therefore producing more meaningful data.” Who would have thought something as awesome and fun as OMG CMU could have been created through a homework assignment? Creating an unconventional way of collecting data allows it to be more accessible to other people and encourages volunteers to record their own responses, which can then be used for data.
Victor and Brier strategically decided to solicit information from people using Facebook as a platform rather than an independent website. “Facebook has long been the platform to disperse information to people you don’t know,” Victor said. Since the core idea of the project is “performing in front of strangers,” Facebook makes this goal possible and allows access to many people. It also allows people to like, comment and share posts on OMG CMU, increasing the activity it gets and the awareness of the page. A Twitter account and Tumblr blog are potential next steps for this idea but, as Victor said, “we already have our hands full managing this quickly growing page.”
The idea to distort images through the Mac application Photo Booth came from lessons learned in Victor and Brier’s improv class. The Photo Booth distortion allows people to express themselves fully without being accused of being negative or mean. “While some OMG CMU messages might sound accusatory or even negative without the distortion, the funny effect makes it okay to say because it lives in an environment of humor and sarcasm,” Victor said. OMG CMU allows students to post unique things about CMU that often are frustrating or annoying without seeming opposed to CMU as a whole. Plus, the pictures are “just hilarious to look at—there are some real Photo Booth pros out there,” Victor said.
Yes, this Facebook page is fun, but does this page make fun of CMU? The answer is no. “We made a conscious decision to avoid any sort of defamation of our school,” Victor said. “That is not the point.” The messages are not derogatory or mean; rather they are sarcastic, quirky, and humorous. “There is an ironic sense of pride emerging from the messages,” Victor said. These posts highlight some of the best and weirdest things about CMU that make everyone who reads them smile and acknowledge our school’s uniqueness. “It may not all be glamorous but we all share and love the daily oddities that make our campus truly unique.” OMG CMU is an outlet for students to share in campus pride.
OMG CMU has found rapid popularity on Facebook. Only two weeks after its opening on Friday, November 11, there had been over 10,000 interactions with the page. “It has really blown us away,” Victor said. Victor and Brier are extremely happy with the page’s success and are surprised “at the response it is getting and continuing to receive, like this interview!” To date the page has been featured in Boring Pittsburgh and in yours truly, Her Campus CMU.
Today OMG CMU boasts 676 likes and over 40 student posts. A recent survey conducted by OMG CMU asked, “What do you find funniest about people’s OMG CMU posts?” The winning answer was clearly “your ability to relate to the statement.” All of the statements featured are things that every CMU student is familiar with and has often experienced.
When I asked Victor if they will be advertising around campus he said, “Without giving too much away, we will being leaving templates around campus in strategic places for people to answer.” Be on the look out for these questions that will prompt you to post your own wacky photo and comment on OMG CMU. See how many likes and comments your post can get!