t’s not surprising some students find themselves turned off by Dartmouth’s Greek culture, but what alternative hook-up networks are out there? Do more hook-up opportunities exist on the web? I checked out three of the top online dating/hook-up sites to see who’s there and what they’re looking for.

Craigslist

Although it is one of the sketchiest places on the Internet, I’ve heard some success stories.

Surprisingly, New Hampshire’s “Casual Encounters” is well visited. Plenty of Manchester people frequent the boards, though there are few Upper Valley people, and fewer college-aged people posting for a hook-up. Reading the posts, I grew curious as to what the responses were like. Do people actually respond to these posts, even in cold, tiny New Hampshire? Any Dartmouth people?

I placed four bids: m4m, m4w, w4w, and w4m, all in Hanover, all college-age people, all looking for a good hook-up. Specifically, m4m was looking for other men in the area, w4w for other women, m4w looking for something outside the frats (a more experienced woman), and w4m looking for not just any random, run of the mill hook-up, but a kinky fling with an open-minded guy.

Not so surprisingly, w4m got the most responses from hook-up hopefuls. m4m came in second, then w4w, and lastly, m4w. Most responders were nearby, except for an occasional Manchester person. The (possible) downside? Most didn’t seem to be Dartmouth people, though the majority were (or at least claimed to be) in their twenties.

But in a matter of hours, both of my w4m/w4w posts were flagged and removed. How could this be? It wasn’t like they were particularly linked or overly ridiculous. All of those posts were about were women wanting “nsa” — no strings attached sex. Maybe people didn’t believe that younger women wanted sex, or thought the posts were fake (perhaps in part because of the aforementioned reason), or maybe some guys were annoyed because they didn’t get a response and complained. In any case, it’s disappointing that women could possibly be discouraged from directly asking for consensual sex.

Anyhow, if you want some anonymous action (or possibly more) and the excitement of posting at a sketchy site, Craigslist is the place, especially for queer men as well as straight or bisexual women.

I have to say, on some level most straight men sound desperate on this site no matter how well they try to say “looking for some fun,” especially when they type like a tween girl. It’s probably best to go on another site to let profile pictures, drop-down selections, and interest category text-boxes better describe what you want. Frankly, somehow it generally doesn’t sound good when all you see is random guys wanting sex. We need more information or else you’ll seem like every other guy who wants some (which is nearly every guy on the planet).

Queer women probably won’t get many responses, which, for this area, is expected, but there are a few other women around, based on the responses I got over the few hours my post was online.

Adult Friend Finder

Okay, so maybe Craigslist is a bit too sketch. That’s alright though: Adultfriendfinder is the place to go if you’re looking for a less sketchy place to find hook-ups. Many people already have pictures, profiles, and site history, which makes it somewhat more trustworthy than Craigslist and their anonymous, limited life span postings (of course, always take precautions when hooking up with anyone you met on the internet). Plus, unlike something like eHarmony, they cut the mushy romance and go straight to the sex.

I didn’t get around to establishing profiles and find out what sort of responses I’d get, but I did poke around. Like Craigslist, many more men appear on the boards than women. Also, if it’s anything like Craigslist, I’ll bet fewer women respond. However, there did seem to be more Dartmouth and college-age students around, some of whom explicitly said they were tired of the frat scene. If you’re looking for something different, Adult Friend Finder is the place to go—again, particularly if you’re a straight or bi woman or a queer man, as there’s a lot of demand for you guys out there.

OkCupid

This is definitely not eHarmony, but also not like Adult Friend Finder or Craigslist. It’s one of the friendlier dating/hook-up sites online that’s also queer-friendly. Besides the hook-up option, OkCupid has options for dating, looking for long-term relationships, and even making friends(!). They have fun quizzes you can take to help OkCupid find your perfect “match,” or you could just compare them with your friend’s results.

At this point I don’t need to say who’s in supply and who’s in demand here. What’s important is that there were about as many Dartmouth people here as there were on Adult Friend Finder, and possibly more. Plus, if you’re looking to date people, you have a better chance here than the other two sites.

What Now?

There are a lot of different people who use these dating and hook-up sites—some Dartmouth students, some not, some normal, and some creepers. They’re great if you want an experience outside your frequented frat basement or if you can’t find people you’re interested in during your daily life. Though it may be obvious, take as many precautions as you can if you do decide to use any of these sites. And please, use protection! Don’t come out of it with ugly bumps and scars on your privates, compliments of someone you met on Craigslist/Adult Friend Finder/OkCupid, no matter how slightly interesting that story may be.

Ratings (1-5, 1 is low/very false, 5 is high/very true):

Craigslist

Sketch Factor: 4.5

Easy Posting: 4 (posts can be flagged and deleted by other users)

Easy Sign-Up: 5

Variety of Non-Sexual Categories: 2 (you can mention non-sexual things, but no one really does)

Adult Friend Finder

Sketch Factor: 3

Easy Posting: 3

Easy Sign-Up: 3.5

Variety of Non-Sexual Categories: 3

OkCupid

Sketch Factor: 2 (depends what you’re looking for, though you may get the occasional sketchy person)

Easy Posting: 3

Easy Sign-Up: 3 (quizzes might be annoying)

Variety of Non-Sexual Categories: 4