LikeALittle: creepiest waste of time ever?

From texting to Skype, there are probably a dozen modes of communication students can use to flirt with each other without ever stepping in the same room. LikeALittle.com, an anonymous online flirting platform, has recently joined the endless number of technologies and social networks that have become a normal part of campus courtship.

It’s easy to understand why LikeALittle has become so popular. It’s nearly impossible to go through your entire university career without ever being attracted to anyone you’ve seen on campus. Yet the campus atmosphere is often not very conducive to acting on those attractions. No one wants to look like they’re trying to pick up a fellow student, since it’s hard to pull off hitting on someone in the library or the classroom without looking embarrassingly creepy. LikeALittle lets students express those attractions, without the risk of making a terrible impression on their peers.

The anonymity of LikeALittle may take the risk of embarrassment out of the equation of flirting, but it definitely does not eliminate the risk of being a sleazeball. How could awkwardly approaching someone be worse than watching them on campus, then posting details you’ve noticed about them on a website for countless people to see? You might as well grab a pair of binoculars and a black trench coat while you’re at it.

It’s odd that for some students, posting flirtatious comments anonymously on LikeALittle seems more acceptable than making a bad pass at someone in person.This not only reflects the popularity of the site amongst students, but also how much technology has changed dating since past generations trekked through the campus dating scene, and not always in a good way.

Nowadays it’s more likely that student’s will add someone on Facebook before asking them for their number, and calling someone before you text them is seen by many as coming on too strong. While this may make dating more convenient, and perhaps less risky for your ego, it also creates a lot of distance between students and their prospective partners. Sometimes it can feel like you have to go through two or three modes of communication before spending time with someone face to face. That can be more of a roadblock to your relationship success than your nerves, since it’s hard get to know someone very well through a computer screen or cell phone.

Daniel Gold, one of the founders of the Queen’s university branch of the site, told Postmedia that one of the best aspects of LikeALittle is that it’s a space online where students can waste time together. I’m all for new modes of procrastination but, considering students don’t have that much time to waste to begin with, there must be better ways of going about it. Call me old fashioned, but talking to the cute guy or girl you spotted on campus seems like a better way of spending your study break than writing about them on some website anonymously. It may pose the risk of bruising your ego if they’re not so keen on this idea, but also has more potential for reward that LikeALittle does not.