From superheroes to “superfly” Nikes, being spotted on Bruin Walk is the newest kind of UCLA fame.
The 2-month-old website allows UCLA students to post missed connections, rants, raves and otherwise “spotty” confessions on an anonymous public forum.
In the first two weeks, there were only 13 submissions, but in the last two and a half weeks, there have been over 400 new posts about man crushes, real crushes, roommates, parking attendants and Slayer shirts.
The website was created by a second-year student who runs and moderates it herself.
She requested to stay anonymous so that students would continue to feel comfortable sending her their personal and potentially embarrassing confessions, and because she wants Spotted on Bruin Walk to be entirely for the campus community.
“I don’t want it to be mine, even though I made it … I want it to become part of what UCLA is known for,” she said.
The creator said she rarely has to censor the submissions and only refuses to post them if they are especially vulgar or offensive.
“It’s a place for finding people; there shouldn’t be negativity on this site,” she said.
Spotted on Bruin Walk was inspired by Craigslist’s “Missed Connections” and other similar websites based out of Brown University and Harvard University. The creator said her site works because it is focused around a small, discrete community.
The creator said she has high hopes for Spotted on Bruin Walk.
“People check Bruin Walk for professor ratings. People should read Spotted on Bruin Walk for missed connections,” she said.
Charlie Tso, a second-year pre-business economics student, believes he was the subject of a spotting.
He said he was a little taken aback when he first found out about it, but also acknowledged his appreciation.
“It’s kind of weird to know someone spotted you and then posted it online,” Tso said. “But at the same time, it’s nice to know that among 25,000 students, there’s someone who recognizes you.”
Instead of staying anonymous, however, he would rather have people approach him in person.
“I’ve had that happen to me before, (and) I prefer to meet people in a more natural setting,” Tso said.
Adam Foumad, a first-year pre-business economics student who also found a post about himself, agreed.
Though the website has a comment function for each submission, the original poster rarely reveals his or her identity.
Foumad said he was frustrated that he was never able to find out who spotted him, and would likely never use the website himself.
“I’d rather go up to a girl and introduce myself than post, “˜Hey, I think you’re cute,’ and never get to talk to her face-to-face,” Foumad said.
Jacob Klein, a second-year English student, said he was confused as to how people were supposed to reciprocate.
“How do they contact (the poster) unless they are given specific directions?” Klein asked.
Submissions sometimes spot more than one student. Second-year students Tommy Changaris, Rembrandt VanDruff and Justin Spring, who are roommates, were mentioned collectively in a post.
“Your room is the hottest room in Sproul. … When any of you come out without a shirt on, I die a little inside,” a post titled “766” read.
None of the residents of “Chateau Changaris,” as they call their room, had heard of the website before friends told them they were on it.
“Maybe we should start wearing turtlenecks,” said Spring, a second-year civil engineering student.
However, they agreed that they would likely never use the site seriously, and had doubts as to whether it could ever become a tool for actually finding that missed connection.
If they were interested in someone, they would be more direct about it.
“We would be more likely to invite them up to the Chateau personally,” VanDruff said.