Fordham Flirts, an Instagram account started by a Rose Hill underclassman at the end of September, shares anonymous crush confessions by Fordham students with the public. The submissions include flirts made to other Rams through SurveyPlanet, a link in the account’s bio where students can write their captions without being identified. As of Dec. 7, the account has 2,136 followers.

The owner of the account, who is choosing not to disclose their name to keep the account anonymous, posts multiple times a day, with each post containing several slides of submissions. They were inspired after a phone call with a friend from home revealed a similar account created at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota where students were able to submit light-hearted flirts to an Instagram account. 

“We were calling to catch up, and he said that he had been receiving a lot of flirts on St. Olaf flirts lately, and I was like, what the hell is that?” the creator of the account said. “I started looking at Fordham accounts and was like, we do not have this. So, I just decided to create one and see what happens.”

The owner reads each submission prior to posting and makes an effort to remove any that may be inappropriate.

Fordham Flirts typically posts short statements from students anonymously expressing romantic interest in other students. Many of the posts are vague, such as “To the cute boy in the red and black plaid flannel looking backpack, drop your (Instagram handle) and let me hit on you.”

A few weeks after creating the account in early September, Fordham Flirts began gaining almost 100 followers a day. They receive an average of 15 submissions per day and try to post three to four of them. 

The owner reads each submission prior to posting and makes an effort to remove any that may be inappropriate, although they admit that sometimes they go through them fast and things slip through the cracks. The account’s biography includes a message to followers saying: “If anyone wants a post removed for any reason, please DM this account.”

“I do feel bad of course when that happens and I work to delete those things as fast as I can.” owner of @fordham_flirts

“It is helpful that people point out if something makes them uncomfortable,” the owner said. “I do feel bad of course when that happens and I work to delete those things as fast as I can.”

Juliette Miliani, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’22, was made aware of a post about her through a class GroupMe. The post identified her as presenting in class that week and that they sat near the anonymous person. The person who posted about Miliani later identified himself in the GroupMe.

“I did not talk to him about the post, he messaged me but I was not interested in that way,” said Miliani. “Honestly, it is flattering that someone took the time to write and send that in hopes that you notice them, although I prefer to just be approached in person.”

Fordham Flirts removes content if anyone directly messages the account for any reason asking for the removal of a post that makes them feel uncomfortable.

Since the account uses SurveyPlanet as an anonymous platform, the owner is unaware of who submits the flirts and relies on the followers to communicate any discomfort or report any harassment that occurs. 

“Often enough, it is a creepy dude who has already been creepy enough in person and is now using Fordham Flirts to kind of harass someone, in which case I am not going to allow that to go on if I can possibly stop it,” the owner said. 

Fordham Flirts removes content if anyone directly messages the account for any reason asking for the removal of a post that makes them feel uncomfortable. However, they are unable to do more as the initial submissions are anonymous. 

“(Fordham Flirts) being anonymous is part of the thing, so I would not feel comfortable making it so that it is not anonymous just so that I can figure out who those people are,” they said. 

The owner estimated that one out of every eight posts is asked to be taken down. In those situations, the owner of the account deletes the post entirely and reposts it with the missing slide along with other posts around the same time so followers do not get confused and see repeated submissions on their timeline. 

Submissions that include sexualizing or fetishizing language are not often called for removal, according to the creator of the account. 

“Often enough, what people object to is not something sexualizing or fetishizing but rather something that seems not harmful,” the creator said. “Someone says ‘this person bothers me in person’ or ‘I already have a partner and he or she is uncomfortable with this being up’ or they will say ‘my friend is doing this, and I hate them’ so in those cases I take it down of course.” 

The owner explained that they have not had to monitor the comments as he has not been aware of any comments on posts that were inappropriate. 

“I remember being super flattered and happy that someone sent in a flirt about me, but there are so many Bella S’s on campus and so I didn’t take the flirt too personally because it could have been about someone else.” Bella Sabino, FCRH ’24

Bella Sabino, Fordham College at Rose Hill ’24, has been frequently posted about on the Fordham Flirts page, identified as Bella S.

“I don’t exactly remember seeing the first post about me but I think it happened in about early October. I remember being super flattered and happy that someone sent in a flirt about me, but there are so many Bella S’s on campus and so I didn’t take the flirt too personally because it could have been about someone else,” Sabino said.

Sabino said that she knows one or two of the flirts have been submitted by her best friend but does not know who is sending in the rest.

After many posts were made about Bella S, several people began submitting flirts identifying themselves as Bella S. 

“I had to reach out to the admin because people started to send in flirts claiming to be me, but it obviously wasn’t me,” Sabino said. “They would say things like “I’m Bella S and I think …” or “it’s me Bella S …” So, I reached out to the admin saying to not post any of the ones who are claiming to be Bella S.”

Miliani expressed that she also enjoys the page but does not take it too seriously.

Overall, Sabino enjoys the page and trusts the admin to post responsibly. She stated that she appreciated how the owner only posts flirts that are unlikely to make someone feel uncomfortable and is willing to delete posts if someone wants them to be taken down.

 “I really like the page because it’s super sweet. All of the kind comments about me make me incredibly happy and sometimes they really make my day so much better,” Sabino said.

Miliani expressed that she also enjoys the page but does not take it too seriously. 

“I think it’s a funny page and very much for joking around but I wouldn’t use it or take it seriously for flirting or dating,” Miliani said. 

If any students feel harassed or threatened by posts on social media, contact Public Safety at 212-636-6076.