Is there such a thing as lust at first click?
Online dating is one thing, but a website devoted exclusively to hooking up is simply pathetic.
Websites like CampusHook.com offer users a place to display their pictures, interests, intentions and other useless information in order to find suitors for uncommitted intimacy. If you’re just looking for a night of casual sex, why do any of the other elements matter?
Come on, how desperate can you get? I’m not condemning using social networking to meet people. I get that some people need a little help putting themselves out there. Dating involves getting to know someone on a personal level, rather than strictly physical. People who use these websites can be socially awkward, anxious or just don’t know where to go to meet new people.
Do what you have to do, but have some dignity. Joining a website to find a one night stand seems contradictory, not to mention entirely unnecessary.
If you have trouble talking to people in order to seal the deal without the Internet, what makes you think a meeting with an
online partner is going to be a success? If you don’t know where to find someone willing to get it on for an evening, hit up Tigerland on a Thursday night. They will be effortless to spot, and it’s probably easier than making a CampusHook profile.
The issue I have with this form of socialization is that it’s made for people strictly looking to hook up — not gain a relationship. If we have seriously resorted to using social networking sites to meet someone to get with for one night, your social skills need work, to be honest.
Are we that disconnected from personal interaction? According to their website, there are more than 800 million active Facebook users. This is without a doubt the most popular social networking website, granted, but it says a lot about our culture today.
With growing Internet usage, online dating continues to rise in popularity, which I don’t necessarily see as a problem. However, having physical contact with someone to maintain relationships is in our nature. Human beings are social creatures, and to deny that is naive. The very principle behind these websites we religiously visit proves that. So why do we insist on constructing these synthetic relationships through a computer screen instead of having the physical interaction we need?
This is more applicable to these casual hook-up sites than anything else. Their purpose is to achieve a bodily meeting to exchange sexual deeds, yet they emerge from the least physical medium possible. It just doesn’t make sense.
If you’re going to go through the trouble to make a profile, visit the site regularly, find potential partners, contact them, wait for a response, build a small connection and then finally arrange a rendezvous, you might as well have found someone in real life.
Personally, I’d be a little embarrassed to be on this public domain. CampusHook.com lists directories for each college, LSU included, and anyone can view the list.
Your timid classmate may be looking for a ménage à trois, but you’ll never know without superficial contact via the Internet. On second thought, perhaps asking in person after viewing his or her profile will prove you’re better than the rest.
Your best bet either way, if you so choose casual hooking up, is to initiate it in the flesh.
 
Gabie Bacques is a 21-year-old animal science senior from Mandeville. Follow her on Twitter @TDR_Gbacques.
 
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Contact Gabie Bacques at [email protected]