Playing cupid

    Before the Internet, crushes were revealed through hand-written notes on pieces of white paper. “Do you like me? Check yes, no, maybe.”
    With the introduction of technology, Web sites can help you find matches, make connections and get to know people better. The biggest step, however, is putting yourself out there. GoodCrush.com is there to help.
    The Web site, developed by recent Princeton graduate Josh Weinstein, allows users to list their campus crushes’ e-mail addresses – but only reveal their identities to the object of their affection if the crush is returned. This is the CrushFinder.
    When that happens, it makes a GoodCrush.
    Joe Benson, senior from Beaver Dam, Ky., discovered GoodCrush.com after Katie DeCillo, junior from Murray, tweeted a link last month. At the time, Murray State was not listed among the universities using GoodCrush. Benson, however, would change that.
    “I went on the site and Yale has thousands of users,” Benson said. “I was like, ‘You know what? Murray State would go for this.’”
    Benson said it was his own experiences at Murray State that influenced his decision to contact Weinstein.
       “I know that in my personal life I see people everyday, make connections with people and I think, you know, they’re cute, they seem fun, but I don’t make the step to meet them because (I) don’t know if they’re taken or what,” Benson said. “One thing I really liked (about the site) was that it’s anonymous.  It gives you a chance to skip the awkward and only make a connection if it’s mutual. I know that other students are like that, too.”
    Benson said he e-mailed Weinstein and half an hour later received a response.
    “He said, ‘If you can get people to start joining, I will create one,’” Benson said.
    The response started out slow, but Benson said he was determined to get students involved with the social networking site.
    “I knew people would like it,” he said. “You just have to get people creating profiles. I didn’t want to let Josh down. He went through the trouble of creating a Murray State one. I was very excited that I was completing the task I was given.”
    In addition to the CrushFinder there is a missed connections section. Users can post messages to people they spotted on campus. As of Thursday, there were 19 missed connections posted on the site, featuring locations such as Dunker’s Deli or Lovett Auditorium.
    One male seeking female is titled “Brown eyes, dinner.”
    “Whenever we eat together I wait as long as possible to meet your eyes because when I do, I’m gone,” the user wrote. “No matter how hard I try I always have to look away or I risk telling you everything in a glance. You have to know, I’m not a good liar, and if I was, I wouldn’t even dream of lying to you.”
    While other sites, such as Craigslist, feature a missed connections section, Benson said he trusts GoodCrush to be safer and less out-of-control.
    “One thing that separates this from missed connections at Craigslist is you have to have a (university-provided) e-mail address to use it,” he said. “It’s going to be only Murray State students. There could still be people who create a profile that isn’t legit, but (there is less to worry about).”
    Users are also able to browse profiles, update crushes periodically and see the “Top 10” crushed-on students. Posts are moderated for vulgarity and spam.     Benson, who is responsible for moderating missed connections from other universities, said he wants people to know what they are signing up for.
    “There is a misconception that it’s a dating site,” he said. “It’s not like match.com. It’s just a missed connection site.”
    He said DeCillo wrote to Weinstein after he did, so the two are now Murray State’s official GoodCrush representatives. They received two uniforms, featuring cupid wings, a bow and arrow and a cupid halo to wear with T-shirts advertising the site.
    Benson said they debuted their uniforms at the Lovett Live Student Showcase last Friday, where they handed out information to interested students. He said they plan to wear their uniforms in front of the Curris Center on a nice day to hand out more information to interested students.
    Benson said he hopes to see the site grow in the future as more features are introduced.
    Said Benson: “This is how Facebook started. It was a school project for a university student.”
    Contact Kyle at charlotte.kyle@murraystate.edu.