Vi Le
Writer
First there was Craigslist’s “missed connections,” then LikeALittle, and now there’s a new site in town for people who want to get their message across to that one special stranger.
Launched on Feb. 8, GauchoSpot is a website created by students, for students. Run by two University of California Santa Barbara students, the goal of the site is to provide an outlet for people in the community to connect with others that they may not otherwise normally talk to. For those who want, their message can be anonymous.
“We realized how difficult meeting new people can sometimes be and figured allowing people to stay anonymous but still be able to contact the people they want to meet would be an interesting service to provide,” says one of the site’s co-founders who wishes to remain anonymous to avoid any unnecessary personal attention.
Sound familiar? That’s probably because there are many similar sites out there. There are a few things that set GauchoSpot apart though. First, it is specifically geared towards UCSB students. The entire site was created just for us; it is not just one section of a larger site. This narrows down the audience significantly and this increases the chances of these connections actually happening.
A second difference is the blog-esque format of the site: multiple posts are visible at once and the majority of them receive a unique title. This makes the posts more visible and leaves more room for expression. Another way that the site allows for expression is that the posts aren’t limited to just people looking to make romantic connections. GauchoSpot encourages connections of all kinds.
“Everyone that submits understands the purpose of GS. If they want to use it to send a message to the thief that stole their bike, for example, then we’ll allow them to do that because the website was made for them to use to help them connect with people they don’t know, thieves included,” says the co-founder.
It’s not so much that other sites don’t have these components but more that they don’t have them all combined in this way. One major difference that is completely unique to GauchoSpot, though, is that posts must be approved before they are displayed on the site. This may be troubling to those worried about censorship but the site co-founder assures us that any changes to/rejection of a post is to ensure the privacy of others and to prevent any abuse of the site.
“We’re pretty easy on filtering submissions… We only filter out posts with sexually explicit content and/or personal information. Once a submission is approved, it’s published in the exact same words as the submiter with no edits,” said the co-founder.
GauchoSpot can easily be considered one of many other sites but could easily become special for those who make a successful connection on it. It’s a place to say the things you’ve always wanted to say but never got the chance or worked up enough courage to say. It’s one more way that our small UCSB community can become that much closer.bike, for example, then we’ll allow them to do that because the website was made for them to use to help them connect with people they don’t know, thieves included,” says one of the site co-founder.
It’s not so much that other sites don’t have these components but more that they don’t have them all combined in this way. One major difference that is completely unique to GauchoSpot, though, is that posts must be approved before they are displayed on the site. This may be troubling to those worried about censorship but the site co-founder assures us that any changes to/rejection of a post is to ensure the privacy of others and to prevent any abuse of the site.
“We’re pretty easy on filtering submissions…we only filter out posts with sexually explicit content and/or personal information. Once a submission is approved, it’s published in the exact same words as the submittor with no edits.”
GauchoSpot can easily be considered one of many other sites but could easily become special for those who make a successful connection on it. It’s a place to say the things you’ve always wanted to say but never got the chance or worked up enough courage to say. It’s one more way that our small UCSB community can become that much closer.
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