Just because you don’t kiss and tell doesn’t mean Twitter won’t.
Just because you don’t kiss and tell doesn’t mean Twitter won’t.
Your random makeout on Court Street may show up on the Twitter feed of nearly 8,000 people who follow @bobcatmakeOUts, a page that features such instances almost daily.
Students post pictures to Twitter and tag the account. The operator then interacts with the photos, retweeting them on the account’s Twitter feed.
He said if someone tags the account in a tweet, and already comments something on it that could be offensive, he would delete the message and tweet the picture with his remarks on it instead.
“Anything where they are not just making out, if there’s something else going on that doesn’t need to be seen or can toe the line with sexual assault … I’m not going to post anything like that,” he said.
The operator frequently sees makeouts, but one of the most memorable moments in the his mind is from his freshman year when he convinced three girls to kiss in order to be featured on the account.
The account’s current operator started tweeting from the account his freshmen year after those who started the account graduated last spring. He is now a junior in the Scripps College of Communication.
He said not every instance is appropriate and he won’t post content that is too raunchy.
“You can’t tweet irresponsible things,” he said. “You have to be careful about what you tweet and what you say about the pictures.”
Most of the tweets are known for their wittiness, but the account operator does take into account possible repercussions that could lead from commenting something too brash.
“I really pay attention to what could be kind of sensitive to people,” he said. “Sometimes if I don’t know what to say, I’ll just retweet it … Honestly, sometimes it’s very hard to think of something (to say).”
The circumstances depicted in the photo are the easiest things for the operator to comment on. Some of those instances involve the articles of clothing people are wearing.
The account was created in September of 2012 and, according to its operator, was much more popular at that time than it is now. However, he is trying to change that and get more underclassmen involved with the account.
Back then, “everyone knew about it,” he said.
Fast forward just two years and he believes most freshman don’t even know about the account.
He has recently been using the popular tags #WomanCrushWednesday and #ThrowbackThursday to get more students to tweet. He also has been tweeting other things, besides makeout pictures, to bring in other students as followers.
The account still gets tagged in anywhere from five to 10 tweets every weekend and the operator tries to interact with every tweet sent his way.
“I try to at least retweet and comment on every one; I don’t really have a certain number on how many (I will post),” he said.
The number of pictures the account is tagged in fluctuates depending on the day, but he said the weekend provides a plethora of material to keep him busy.
“If there’s more people, you’re probably bound to have more makeouts,” he said.
Some students, like Kelly Gurren, follow the account to see people she’s friends with featured.
“It’s kind of funny to see people you know,” said Gurren, a junior studying communication.
Others, such as Brooke Galvin, a freshman studying finance, are not as open to the idea.
“I just don’t want to see people making out on my timeline,” Galvin said.
However, the operator almost never takes the makeout pictures himself.
None of his family members know that he runs the account, but some of his friends know that he is the driving force behind some in-the-moment decisions.
He has only told about 20 people that he is involved with the account, but said the secret is not that big of a deal.
The account will continue to demand an online presence as one of the most popular OU pages because the operator feels an obligation to his followers.
“I can’t let people down. I’m like the Bobcat Makeout Batman of Athens.”
If you would like to check out Bobcats smooching or see if you are on featured on the page, follow @bobcatmakeOUts on Twitter.
@w_gibbs
wg868213@ohio.edu
