Looking for a potential contender for that ring by spring? Don’t fret; @PLNUCrushes is on a Twitter feed near you to make those long lasting love dreams come true!
The Twitter page has posted confessions from students on campus, listing the names of people they have a secret crush on. By submitting anonymously through Survey Monkey, a website where one generates polls to share on social media sites, students get to expose their secret crush with fingers crossed in anticipation of their crush crushing on them back.
“Bringing soul mates together since 1902,” the account’s bio reads. Multiple tweets are posted daily with first and last names of objects of the students’ affections.
The page @PLNUCrushes was launched on Oct. 16, which makes it fairly new, but the page has already generated a buzz around campus.
Sophomore Alexandria Ruvalcaba doesn’t have a Twitter account but has heard about the anonymous chatter over social media. She feels that maybe students really do have a crush on somebody and they are simply trying to get their feelings out. Ruvalcaba mentions the ratio of more than twice the number of women than men at PLNU and said she thinks that may have something to do with it.
“It may be easier for guys to get girls, but for girls there is such a small amount to choose from,” Ruvalcaba says.
From the male perspective, sophomore Austin Flanagan says he would not submit to @PLNUCrushes, but feels that it is a bridge between the Facebook pages PLNU Confessions and PLNU Encouragements.
“This could potentially lift-up someone’s spirits or make someone’s day,” Flanagan says. “It could make someone say, ‘I didn’t realize I was so hot!’”
Hurray for confidence boosters. On the other hand, junior Riley Fields believes that the Twitter page is foolish and childish. She feels that half of the people submitting anonymously are just making things up. With mentions of Roary and “Myself,” as posts for the account, Fields finds it hard to take the page seriously.
“It’s like PLNU Confessions all over again, ” she says.
The anonymous Facebook page PLNU Confessions, which had a sudden burst of popularity back in February 2013 with nearly 800 likes, announced its comeback on Nov. 5, providing an abundance of choices for unspecified students to confess their love for each other.
Major universities across the United States are also on this anonymity hype over social networking sites including the University of San Diego with the Twitter feed @USDCrushes.
The creators of @PLNUCrushes launched this page in hope of the anonymous person gaining courage to actually talk to their crush in person.
“I decided to create @PLNUCrushes because I thought it would be a fun way for students to interact and hopefully get to know each other better,” the administrators, who wanted to remain anonymous, said through a Twitter direct message with The Point Weekly. “It’s always a great feeling to see that someone out there may have a crush on you… hopefully it makes them smile!”
Senior Carlotta Kloppenburg was mentioned twice in the PLNU Crushes Twitter feed by her Twitter name @BabyKlopp and she found it quite funny.
“It’s probably a joke,” she says. “Also, I am a little upset they didn’t even use my real name.”
The women’s basketball player finds the page amusing and a way for students at PLNU to connect over the Internet. “I don’t think it’s harming anybody, so why not?” says Kloppenburg.
Steve Anderson 
superadmin