Casual Sex Goes Viral

So it’s no secret that the world of online dating has become increasingly more common. In fact 1/5 relationships now starts online. (At least that’s what Match.com claims.) But these are relationships,  you know the things that are about more than sex, the ones that don’t start out as the result of a night at the bar and beer goggles. I can understand the need for a way to sift through those less than stellar companions in the hopes of finding someone you can actually connect with. What I can’t understand is the need for a social networking site that is geared towards pursuing casual hookups.

By Jenn Inzetta

But apparently the University of Chicago can. The site first launched a few weeks ago, under the name UChicagoHookups.com, “a place where fun comes to thrive.” But since then, the site has gained more media attention and has been renamed EduHookups.com, allowing students from Northwestern University, Columbia College Chicago, and soon Brown University, to register under a .edu email address, and search for hookups.

More than 300 people have registered for the site and over 1,300 private messages have been sent, but I have to ask, is this really necessary? I mean it’s college. Aren’t we always complaining that there’s nothing but casual hookups in college? Aren’t we saying that it’s difficult to find anything more than that? If that’s the case why do we need a website geared toward this? Isn’t this what bars and house parties are for? Will those become irrelevant now, too, with students no longer even bothering with the fun and the flirting and the cheesy pickup lines? Now we’ll just send people private messages and meet them in the appropriate dorm room?

I’m all about new media, but this seems like a bit much even for me. Is it too much to ask for a good old fashioned house party hookup?