Breaking the ice with a crush has been proven difficult, maybe even impossible for some. Simply introducing oneself to a beautiful stranger can be too nerve-racking for some to handle. But for those soft souls who want to bring their feelings to light, WSU Cupid has been the answer.
For those of you living under a rock or not familiar, WSU Cupid is a Facebook page created in October of 2012 and has been the go-to for the anonymous confessions by WSU students. Students direct message Cupid with their confession, then Cupid posts the confession to the wall anonymously to be seen by almost 6,000 followers. With close to 3,000 different posts, Cupid has proven to be a happy medium for confessor and sheer entertainment for followers.
We at Her Campus Winona had the privilege of conducting an exclusive interview with Cupid and while he (yes…HE) is not ready to reveal himself, he agreed to tell us about how he became Cupid, his intentions with running the page, and some insight about himself.
Her Campus Winona writer, Austin Opfer, posing with the heart of Cupid himself!
How did you become WSU Cupid?My cousin created a cupid page for his college and told me about how he was getting the inside scoop from all the cute girls on campus. Since we are so close in age it became a competition of likes, shares and posts between our pages. Needless to say my page is almost 3x more popular.
Are you the only person running the page?Right now I am. Over the years there have been two or three people that have helped me out and there is a girl who has been badgering me to help, but there’s not that many posts daily for me to need help. So the only person who has access to the page is myself.
How many people on campus are aware that you are Cupid?10-15 people know for sure and a few more may have an idea. I guess the low number can be attributed to my vigilance in remaining anonymous, and only telling a select few people who I truly am, I know that those select few also have my back in remaining anonymous.
Does every submission get posted or are you selective?I post probably 96% of the posts. I read them all to make sure no one is bad talking anyone else. My freshman year there was some issues with a couple of girls writing mean things about members of the guys’ basketball team. So I decided to keep those negative posts off the page.
I also don’t post addresses for parties. If someone submits an address I will post the street since that makes it more difficult to narrow exact locations. I don’t want to be the one responsible for parties being out of control or busted.
What do you get out of running the page personally?Starting out it was just a lot of fun because people I knew were getting posts about them and it was something for me to enjoy in my leisure time. To be honest…its not much fun anymore. It’s like a job, but someone’s got to do it. I’m thinking of some ways to make the page more fun.
Has anyone ever direct messaged you for personal advice?Yes, it actually happens a lot. People seek advice about what I think they should do when they want to talk to someone. I consider myself a good coach, but what’s funny is the advice I give never seems to work for me personally but apparently it works for them [laughs]. Evidently they either have better luck or better delivery than I do. Regardless I consider myself a sort of cyber Hitch.
What do you enjoy the most about being the WSU Cupid?Well it’s entertaining and I like helping people. There are people that have messaged me saying their post was successful in creating opportunities and dates. I even set my roommate up for a two-year relationship because of what a girl was seeking in a guy through her post so it’s a good feeling.
What do you dislike about the page?VALENTINES DAY. Since freshman year there were about 140 posts each day before, the day of, and the day after the holiday. It was ridiculous, my computer would freeze, and Facebook even blocked me from posting statuses for two hours because I posted so many.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed knowing so many people’s secrets and desires?I don’t really feel “overwhelmed” by the definition of the word, but I do indeed have a good amount of dirt on a lot of the campus. Most posts really go “in one ear, and out the other” but there are a few that stick out from time to time, I’m not sure why some catch my attention, but from time to time there are posts that I check on every couple of days to see how they have progressed.
What posts do you hate seeing?I hate seeing the craigslist style post with the “I’m a girl seeking such and such” and these sex starved personal ads. Take your thirst to Tinder -I hear that works pretty well for that. But it keeps the page busy and entertaining nonetheless. I also think the Netflix ones are so stupid, there should be like a Netflix club where all these people seeking other Netflix watchers can have a little cuddle club type thing.
What post do you like?The thoughtful ones. They are long and detailed and have good grammar and don’t sound foolish. I also like when people write about their significant other but I try to keep those to a minimum since the page is about those without one.
Do you ever use the information from the page to your advantage?If a girls really hot or seems like a good match for friends of mine I will try to link them up but I never let them know I’m Cupid. As for myself I’ve only used it to talk to one girl who I still talk to today.
Do you ever expose the identity of all those confessors who submitted posts to you?People who receive cupid posts about them will message me asking for the identity of the person who submitted it. I’ll go back to the person who wrote it and ask if they would like me to tell them their name for their personal gain. Sometimes they say yes and sometimes they say no, I respect the wishes of the confessor either way.
In one case, a girl I know personally had her boyfriend send in a post about another girl, so I messaged him and told him that he better think twice. I chose not to tell his girlfriend so he could have a second chance to redeem himself.
Will you ever reveal yourself?Probably when I graduate, I’ll have to pass the duties of the page to someone else but we will see.
How will you “pass the torch” of WSU Cupid duties?When I choose the next page operator I will come up with a way to decide if the person is trustworthy enough of running the page the way it needs to be run, anonymous and unshared. I feel as though if this page were to get into the wrong hands it could be a disaster, leading to all sorts of gossip and leaked secrets. (Burnbook style)
After years of reading confessions, desires and giving advice to those who need it, We asked Cupid if he has some advice he wants to give to the students of WSU and his followers. His advice was simple:
- Guys and girls alike need to be themselves, because no one wants to fall for a fake person.
- Fellas, women are always right, so don’t fight it because it will get you nowhere.
- Most importantly if you have interest in someone, put it out there. What is the worst that could happen they say no? It is better to put yourself out there and know its not going to happen than sitting in your room wondering what if…
Good things take time but taking charge of what you want is much more sexy.
In the collaboration between Her Campus Winona and WSU Cupid we concluded that life is short but college is shorter. College years are going to be the best years of your life and you’ll always wish you could go back. Don’t leave anything to regret. Find the courage to tell someone your feelings. Tell that random girl she’s beautiful and you want to know her name. Do what you love, speak your mind and have fun. It will be over sooner than you think.