Users voice secret attractions anonymously via @USCCrushes
We’ve all been there.
You’re walking to class, and you happen to make eye contact with some cutie coming your way, and under your breath you mutter, “Well, hello there.”
And then you never see that person again.
The soul mate you thought you had for about 30 seconds has exited your life, never to return. All hope is lost. Abandon ship. Your life is over.
But before you throw yourself out of your dorm window, you may want to check out a mysterious new Twitter account called @USCCrushes, launched this week.
This anonymous account puts the power in Twitter users’ hands when it comes to expressing their true feelings to their secret crushes.
The two anonymous founders said they do not wish for their identities to be revealed and would only share that they are both female and both attend USC. They asked to remain nameless and would not disclose any other identifiable information.
The Twitter handle was born Tuesday night after one of the founders saw an anonymous crush account from another school and tracked it down out of curiosity.
The anonymous professions of love come through an ask.fm account, on which anyone can post private thoughts to be broadcast to thousands of followers on Twitter.
“It took a little while to catch on, so we thought it might be a bust, but all of a sudden (Wednesday) night it blew up and people were sending in so many of their anonymous crushes,” said one of the founders, henceforth referred to as Founder 1.
The account started out with fewer than 20 followers on Tuesday night, but two days later, it had reached more than 2,000.
“I guess after the first couple retweets it became a word-of-mouth kind of thing,” said the second creator, henceforth known as Founder 2. “Everyone loves ‘anon’ accounts they can relate to, so I guess when people see tweets about people they know, they’re more likely to talk about it.”
While neither girl knows how word got out so quickly, they said they’re doing their best to keep up with the responses they’ve received so far.
“There are so many funny ones that we’ve received but haven’t put on Twitter because they’re either too inappropriate or just plain strange or too long,” Founder 1 said. “We really love all the witty entries — that’s what keeps us entertained.”
Some of the founders’ favorite submissions thus far include tweets that read “PRESIDENT PASTIDES CAN GET IT,” “Jadeveon Clowney. Sincerely, The Snow Bunnies” and an ode to Student Body President Chase Mizzell, in which Mizzell is referred to as “the most handsome, humble and kind student body president.”
Because of the explosion of interest, the founders said they are doing everything they can to post as many crushes as they can to bring together star-crossed strangers.
“At this point, we check a few times a day and send out what we think are the best or most worthy ones,” Founder 2 said.
The founders said they are unsure of what is next to come for their account or if they will ever reveal their identities.
“We’ll have to wait and see where it goes before we decide that,” Founder 2 said.