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By Alissa Medina > Freshman > Media and Cultural Studies > University of California, Riverside; Screenshot from eduHookups.com
A new site has emerged, complete with the ability to find a ‘hookup’ partner based on ‘casual’, ‘platonic’, and ‘serious’ categories. With messages like, “Get Laid Tonight,” students can now post on the student-made, Craigslist-like site where, as the site’s slogan states, “fun comes to thrive.” As the site continues to flourish for college campuses everywhere, students are interested at the effortless way to find a hook up partner close by.
Steve,* the founder and primary programmer eduHookups.com, has created an empire for sexually frustrated college students. College Magazine conducted an exclusive interview with the online mastermind.
College Magazine: How did eduHookups begin and how has your audience responded to its emergence?
Steve: EduHookups originally started out as UChicago Hookups. Students at the University of Chicago have a reputation for being somewhat socially awkward; we wanted to see if that was true and if so, change that. Therefore, the site was originally intended it to be a UChicago-only thing, but somehow the local media caught wind of the site, and pretty soon we were dealing with national and international recognition. We decided to improvise and roll with the publicity by announcing plans to expand to other schools.
CM: How safe is the site? Have any instances occurred where students were put into an unsafe position?
S: We take our users’ safety very seriously. Users must agree to a strict Terms of Use and Privacy Policy … under no circumstances, unless compelled by law, will we ever reveal user identities. We use a standard email-activation system to verify that account holders are who they say they are. Additionally, all site users use screen names; their contact information is never revealed. [We] can ban users from the site, and users can ban other users from sending them messages in the future. We have not had any instances where undesirable incidents occurred or where students were put into unsafe situations because of the site. We would like to emphasize that we encourage all site users to exercise good judgment.
CM: In creating eduHookups, did it ever occur that a spinoff of Craigslist combined with LikeALittle.com would create media frenzy? Have you ever felt that the site was almost an exact replica of the two?
S: It did not occur to us that eduHookups or UChicagoHookuups would stir up such a media firestorm. We feel that the site is not a clone of either Craigslist or LikeALittle, because we offer features that are unique to both sites, and because we focus solely on casual encounters and hooking up.
CM: Do you personally feel that the site will truly create a revolutionary, effortless way for university students to hook up and find potential partners?
S: The site definitely has the potential to do this. We live in [an] era where everything is interconnected and so many things are done on the internet. We use the internet to buy things, to find entertainment, even to go to school in the form of distance education – why not go one step further and meet people online? We would like to emphasize that we are not the first site for meeting people online – there’s already a countless number of dating sites out there. We just do things a little differently.
CM: Is dating hard at the University of Chicago and in the mid-east? It seems like students are more comfortable with the site and use it to their advantage. Have you, yourself, found dating difficult at the university?
S: I don’t know about the mid-east in general, but because of the social reputation of UChicago as an “all-work, no-play” school, it does seem to make getting out and dating a bit harder.
CM: What dating advice do you, personally, give to your users? How can they find success in their endeavors?
S: We don’t really give dating advice specifically. However, it’s always a good idea to be yourself and be genuine. No one likes a fake. There’s always someone out there.
CM: What expectations do you have for the site? What new additions will you be featuring and how far do you expect the website to go?
S: We are looking to expand the site nationally. We’ve got some new features in development, including a new site design – it’s still too early to see how far the site will go and what it will evolve into, but we hope that the sight has a bright future.
*For security reasons, the creator’s full identity was not revealed.
