“Nerds need love too,” reads the top of the cover photo of JHU Hook Ups’ Facebook page. The new page hopes to spice up the Hopkins dating scene by connecting users with compatible mates via the popular social media website, Facebook.
Inspired by the successes of the NYU Hook-Ups Facebook page, JHU Hook Ups follows the growing trend of public community forums for the Hopkins community surfacing on Facebook. The page was founded last Saturday and already has over 100 friends.
Users of the site message basic descriptive features about themselves such as their class year, height and sexual orientation as well as a brief description of what they are looking for in a mate. JHU Hook Ups then goes on to post these details on its wall for the public to see. Interested viewers have the option to like the post or send a message to the page showing their desire to connect with the poster. JHU Hook Ups then goes on to connect the two anonymous users and let them do the rest.
“We started JHU Hook Ups to add a little extra fun to campus. We have a nerdy reputation, and we’re proud of it! Students here work hard, and are often stressed. We thought this would be a fun way for students to take a break from the day-to-day stresses,” representatives from JHU Hook Ups wrote in a Facebook message to The News-Letter, noting the positive health benefits that come from sexual intercourse.
On the topic of the pre-existing hook-up scene at Hopkins, representatives from JHU Hook Ups expressed their disappointment in the lack of variety that exists in places to find dates.
“It seems that only a certain crowd goes out often and would be pretty awkward to approach someone on their way to class and casually ask them if they would like to hook up sometime,” they wrote. “We want to offer people an alternative.”
JHU Hook Ups is not starting from scratch, however. They have made it very clear that they are using a model inspired by the NYU Hook-Ups Facebook page, which currently has over 3,000 followers and has garnered a lot of attention within the NYU community with students commenting and posting regularly.
“We love how bold of an idea it was. Hooking up is something many college students hope for by the end of long nights at frats, bars etc. . .but a little taboo to go about finding in other ways, which makes this method adventurous and exciting,” JHU Hook Ups wrote.
JHU Hook Ups deviates from NYU Hook-Ups’ model, however, by providing students who do not wish to reveal their activity on the page with an alternative to liking the posts.
“Something we want to do differently than NYU Hook Ups is give users the option to send private messages with the post number they are interested in (instead of publicly liking it), so we can connect them to the poster discretely,” JHU Hook Ups wrote, noting that it was common for a female’s post to receive substantially more likes than that of a male due to different stigmas regarding sexual openness among the two sexes.
JHU Hook Ups is currently satisfied with the student response they have seen thus far. While the page is still much less popular than NYU Hook-Ups, representatives from the site reported overhearing people leaving positive remarks. And even though they noted that they anticipated a slow start, they made clear that students have already been messaging the site to show their interest in the people whose information has been made public.
However, not all students are excited about the added dimension to the Hopkins hook up scene.
“It’s like a craigslist for sex, and that’s just disgusting,” senior Alan Hopkins Juliano said. “The difference between Tinder and this is that at least Tinder shows you your similar interests as opposed to [JHU Hook Ups], which is just physical and anonymous.”
Other students, on the other hand, are excited by what the site may offer to the Hopkins dating scene.
“I think it’s cute because people need more places to meet than just parties,” sophomore Emily Sexton said.
As for the representatives of the site itself, they are still waiting to see how the site will turn out.
“The site will end up going in whatever direction the users want it to go in,” they wrote. “If that means one-night stands, that’s great; if someone happens to find love, that’s great as well.”
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