For those whose palms begin to sweat, tongue swells up and mind suddenly goes blank at the thought of confessing love to a secret crush, fear not. Flirting has been made easier for the hopelessly shy with the assistance of the Internet. Several websites have helped to make talking to your crush a little less nerve-wracking.

The infamous Facebook “poke” is a subtle way to flirt when all words fail. The poke simply lets the person you care about know you are thinking of them, unless you take it too far. Have discretion when using the Facebook poke; do not get too carried away. Once you “poke” that special someone, it is a waiting game. Will they poke you back? Will they only poke you once and forget the whole thing happened? Really, when you initiate a poke you are hoping for a poke war. You do not want the other person to ignore your poke; you want the feelings to be mutual. Once a poke war is started, it is difficult to get out of. If you stop poking, the other person may think you do not care or are annoyed. Well, as they say, all is fair in love and war.

Then, there is collegeacb.com. On this website, you can list real names of people you are interested in. There are threads that you can title and start discussions about people. This website can get a little nasty, with unfair stereotypes and names to go with them. However, if you post properly, you might get lucky. There are superlatives for students at each college campus. People can also use the site to describe someone they have seen who they have the hots for, in hopes of others helping them identify this mystery hunk or hottie. Check it out to see if you happen to be the subject of conversation, or know someone who is.

An increasingly popular site, LikeALittle.com, has paved the way for shy flirters nationwide. There are separate sites for various college campuses and their students to participate in a little shameless flirting.
It begins when you see someone you like the looks of. You may regularly see them or this might be the first time. Immediately, you go to the website to describe the unmatchable beauty you have just witnessed. Example: “At Rec Center: Male, brown hair. You are wearing gray sweatpants and a navy hoodie. Get at me.” Then, you check the page constantly, hoping, wishing, praying for a response.

You are hoping that the male with brown hair in gray sweatpants and a navy hoodie will stumble upon your comment and respond. Then you will profess your love to each other once you meet in person and from then on it is happily ever after.

Okay, so the website doesn’t always work flawlessly, but there are testimonials of people who it has worked for. Even if you are not interested in checking to see whether someone has posted about you, the website is still entertaining to read. When it comes to anonymity, people are not shy in what they want to say. In the meantime, keep posting about that guy or girl and hopefully they will catch up to you!

Whether you are outgoing or shy, these websites are here for you this Valentine’s Day to help you find your sweetheart. There is nothing to lose; rejection has never been so easy to shake off. So grab a box of chocolates or candy sweethearts and flirt away this Valentine’s Day!

Malea Ritz can be reached at [email protected].