Too tired to talk to that cutie at the bar? Thanks to the Internet, you don’t have to. In an emerging trend at college campuses across the nation, many students and even some professors are looking to online websites for one night stands, most notoriously using the classified website Craiglist.

Last November, the blog IvyGate exposed a female Cornell student who posted an ad on Craigslist under “Casual Encounters” looking for a male student to join her and two friends in an orgy. While it is unknown whether this ad was real or fake, clearly “casual encounters” is one part of the hook-up culture that exists at Cornell.

Craigslist RevealedThe Sun went undercover and posted a fake advertisement on Craigslist to determine the demographic population of Cornellians who were actually trolling the website to find a hook-up partner. Using the fake description of a C.U. female coed looking to experiment, The Sun received over 50 responses in two days.

Jenna B., The Sun’s resident sex columnist, speculated on the appeal of a “casual encounter” set up through the internet.

She said, “I think a lot of the time, people who turn to Craigslist are people who may be having a hard time meeting people in whatever community they’re in. Or maybe they just don’t want to pay for match.com. And for those using Craigslist for casual encounters, well, some people look at it as one step short of prostitution, except no money is exchanged — most of the time, anyway.”

While “Casual Encounters” contains several categories of people looking for different kinds of meetings, the two most popular categories are women looking for men, “w4m,” and men looking for men for men, “m4m.”

The popularity of the second category can be attributed to “homosexual and bi-sexual men […] for whom the Internet serves both as a practice ground for coming-out as well as a medium to quick sexual encounters offline,” according to an article published in CyberPyschology & Behavior titled “Using the Internet to Find Offline Sexual Partners.”

“There’s a huge number of Cornell guys looking for other guys to experiment with on-campus, and maybe Craigslist just provides a community to anonymously explore their sexuality without having to come out,” Jenna B. said.

One reason why “Casual Encounters” seems to draw so many college students is that it enables them to act out fantasies or fetishes they could not carry out otherwise.

Ryan Mitchell grad has done extensive research on the reasons why people engage in casual sex through online networks. He said, “One possible explanation is that people who are interested in safe, casual sex may find it easier to bring up the safe sex discussion online rather than in the bar or in the bedroom. Studies are finding that the important consideration is that when finding sex partners on the Internet, the safe sex practices that result are often as good as or better than when sex partners are met offline, but the partner you meet is more likely to have a history of STIs and sexual risk-taking. As with any sexual partner, it’s critical to practice safe sex and be aware of the possible risks.”

There are a variety of implications of hooking up with a partner found on the Internet that make it more risky than picking up someone from a bar, however. Because the initial interaction occurs through an exchange of digital flirting and teasing, a person does not really know who lies behind the computer screen. The Sun did not verify the actual identity of the people who sent in responses.

By the same token, some feel that engaging people via websites aimed explicitly at sex reduces the ambiguity often found trying to pick a person up at a bar or at a party.

Snezana Vrangalova grad, whose research delves into the world of casual relationships, explained that while a person uses a website for the sole purpose of finding sex, many other people that are on the website are looking for the same.

“The relative anonymity of online interactions makes it easier for many people to start a communication. Everyone who chooses to go onto that website is there presumably looking for the same thing. This makes the search for sex more efficient than meeting someone at a bar, for example, it spares you the difficulty of trying to read subtle cues and figuring out what the other person wants. It also creates less psychological pressure to actually engage in sexual behaviors if you don’t want to: when you have been flirting with someone at a bar, it’s a lot harder to pullaway. With the Internet, you’re only one click away from stopping communication,” Vrangalova said.

The Sun received a variety of responses to its ad, each with varying details. Many people who responded also sent photos to accompany their emails. Most of the photos sent contained no nudity, however others showed enough “detail” to make Grandma blush. Some responses tried to woo The Sun by commenting on the playful nature of its ad, while other ads took a more direct approach and explained they were just looking for some NSA (no strings attached) fun this weekend.

One user who responded to the ad said, “Curious Georgette, I, too, want to explore. I think kissing and dancing together are both good barometers of the physical “click.” At 5’11”, my medium-build might match you on the dance floor, metaphorically or otherwise? Can you mentally/verbally spar? That’s sexy. Creative energy: Sexy. Actively searching out what you want. Very sexy. You sound on the edge of lovely.”

Although the demographic of people was largely male Cornell students, both grad and undergrad, occasionally a few people from Ithaca College responded along with people who were going to be passing through the area. One person who replied said he was a 36-year-old professor, but did not specify in which school he taught. The Sun’s post claimed the fictitious girl was 20 years old.

Vrangalova added there have been a lot studies examining real life casual sex encounters, but few studies that look at the implications of finding casual sex online. However, she commented, “The same might be true for online encounters, but we have no data as of yet. The main reason people go through these websites is simply for pleasure. Women much more often engage in casual sex with the intention that it will lead to a relationship. Men do it to increase or maintain their status in their peer group.”

The one thread that ties all of the post together is the desire for an NSA encounter, or no strings attached to commitment. One response said, “I’ll be quick ... I’ve never done this before but I can’t seem to find a girl at Cornell that doesn’t want a relationship and I don’t need that right now. I’m looking forward to some fun.”

Another person claiming to be a 23-year-old grad student wrote, “So you say you’re looking to experiment eh? As an engineer I know how to experiment ... I haven’t been with dozens of ladies or anything like that but I would say that I know my way around a female figure. I would say that my specialty is with foreplay but don’t worry, its not exactly down hill from there. I’m also endowed with a generously sized man organ and am well versed in all of the various positions. However, I’m not like a lot of guys that just want to get behind you and slap your ass while doing it doggy style. I want us both to have fun and know when to let the lady jump on top and do her thing.”

The Sun, while flattered, declined to respond to any of the ads.