6.782 likes on Facebook – the university itself only has 9.132, that’s not too much of a difference. Is Spotted: University of Innsbruck (for anyone who might not know: a page on which you can post something about someone you have seen/met/spoken to and you want to meet) really a means to find interesting people or just a page making fun of someone who seriously believes in what he/she is writing?
I still can’t decide. What most annoys me, however, is that the creators want it to be “fully anonymous”. Guys, it’s the 21st century. Wake up! NOTHING on Facebook is anonymous.
There are people who take the website seriously and say something like: “It is really embarrassing. I saw you in front of the library. When I saw you again later with a friend I was smiling at the two of you – although the look of your friend rather suggested that I was a freak.”
Also a good friend of mine was recently spotted and anyone reading it might have immediately known that it was her – so “anonymous” is just a bit of an understatement. Unfortunately, they did not take a liking to each other. In fact, my friend felt rather intimidated by his earnest (!) confession of love and was really annoyed by all the people calling her up asking how things were going with the guy. Well, before that I would not have believed Facebook users to really take this page seriously.
What strikes me as odd is that you normally do not tell someone from the first second onwards that you like him/her, do you? If you already know that your acquaintance is attracted to you personally, where’s the tension in it then?
On the one hand, we think being spotted is stupid – on the other hand we read the posts everyday just waiting for a description that could fit ourselves. That’s probably quite a human character trait – we complain about things we actually want to happen to ourselves.
Some students even spend their whole day reading posts and marking other people – just like back in school.
I think that Facebook users should be clear what this page is really about. Is it about finding true love, making fun of yourself or your friends or is it just a means to keep bored people occupied? So not only make up your mind what it is for you, but tell the creators of this page to get rid of this “fully anonymous” description – that’s hypocritical.
Until now it seems that for some people Spotted: University of Innsbruck might really be a new version of ElitePartner.at, an opportunity to find one’s better half. I, however, prefer doing that differently – most of all without 6.782 Facebook users knowing about it.
by KATHRIN
www.facebook.com/spottedinnsbruck
